Final Fantasy VII The Return Of The Cetra
by Aerith The Evenstar
Summary: Tori's day started out normal until she heard the doorbell ring. When she goes to answer it her life will turn upsidedown. Takes place 5 months after AC. Cloud X OC. Rating may go up in later chapers.
1. A Man Named Cloud

Final Fantasy VII

The Return Of The Cetra

AN: This story takes place 5 months after Advent Children. And sometimes in this story, some of the Final Fantasy characters will seem OOC and that because it's to get the story to go along and to have some humor to it.

Declaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy or anything that involves it. I do own my OC Tori.

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Chapter 1 

A Man Named Cloud And The Ride Of Her Life

Tori woke up for the first weekend of summer vacation, which happened to be Monday.

She was a 16 year old with dirty blonde hair was wavy and came down passed her waist. Her skin was pale and on her face she had blue eyes.

Tori went to get dressed in her clothes. She chose to wear her blue jeans with a sleeveless shirt that was navy blue which her 18 year old sister, Ashleigh gave her and wore her light blue jacket to cover her bare arms. She then put on her brown tennis shoes.

When she was finished getting dressed, Tori did her morning routine and had breakfast downstairs. When she was done, she went back upstairs and sat in front of her TV.

Tori turned on her Xbox so that it rejected the disk slot and placed in her favorite movie called 'Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children' so she could watch it for what seem like the hundredth time in her life.

Of course she never played the video game of Final Fantasy VII since she didn't have a PS or a PS2, but to make up for it, she would go on the Internet for information on the game and the things that happened during game play. (AN: True fact about my life, I don't have a PS or a PS2.) The movie took place 2 years after the game.

Whenever she watched the movie, Toru would always make fun of Vincent because he didn't have a phone. At one point of the movie when he said, "Where can I buy a phone?" she would always say, "At Verizon Wireless!" And Tori also called Cid the 'Adam Saintlier wannabe' since he kind of looked like the actor himself. It was then that Tori's mom came into her room an then started to talk to her 16-year-old daughter.

"Tori, I need to take Jackie to her audition and watch her. I need you to stay here and take care of the house." Said Mom. "It will only take an hour for the audition to finish and I'll be back as soon as I can."

"So, basically it'll be 7:30 by the time the audition ends?" Stated Tori.

"That's right." Said Mom. "I'll leave you in charge of the house until then. Bye"

"Bye Mom." Said Tori.

It was then that Mom left. Tori was now home alone, since Ashleigh was at her friends house to spend the night and her dad was at work, and now her mom and her little sister were going to an audition.

Tori continued to watch her movie. 30 minutes later she was at the part where Cloud's fighting with Sephiroth. Tori always like this part of the movie because of the action and that it had the song called 'One Winged Angel' which she called the remix because the original song was an orchestra-like version while the movie's version was like a mixture of both orchestra and heavy metal.

When the movie ended Tori went downstairs to get something to eat. When she got down the stairs she went into the kitchen and started searching the refrigerator for a snack. She pulled out a cheese stick and started to eat it from the wrapper.

It was right when she finished eating that she heard the doorbell ring. Tori's heard shot up at the sound of the doorbell and with a looked of surprise on her face.

"_I wonder who that could be._" Thought Tori. "_Why would anyone come here at this time of day? I just hope it isn't one of Jackie's friends coming to torture me again._" (AN: Another true fact about myself. My little sister's friends do come over every day.)

It was strange that the person wasn't ringing the doorbell again or knocking on the door for an answer, which told Tori that it definitely wasn't one of Jackie's friends. Tori walked over to the entrance hall and towards the door. When she opened the door, Tori was surprised to see a tall young man waiting outside patiently.

This man was at the height of 5'9 and looked to be at 23 years of age. He had spiky blonde hair, wearing a pair of sunglasses, which made it hard to tell what his eye color was and on his left ear was a silver earring, and on his hands he wore black leather gloves.

He wore a navy blue sweater that had a zipper instead of buttons that was a little open and on his right side of the shirt was sleeveless whit the other side had a long black sleeve that was like that of a Harry Potter robe with a metal shoulder pad that had what looked like a silver lion head with a hoop in it which had a black belt to hold something like a thing that held a sword to the man's back and he wore black pants and on his feet were black boots. Like the left side of the man's shirt, he had a half of a HP robe that was like a skirt that was black which was held up by the chest belt and (which was connected to) the belt around his waist.

The man was thin and his chest, arms and body were muscular. Somehow, this man looked familiar to Tori.

Tori looked behind the man and saw parked in the driveway was a weird looking motorcycle that was huge, which she determined belonged to the man in front of her. She returned her attention to the man who was looking down on her.

"Can I help you, Sir?" Asked Tori.

"Is this the Stam Residence?" Asked the man, who (Tori noted) had a familiar voice.

"Yeah." Replied Tori. "Are you looking for one of my parents?"

"Yes, you could say that."

"I'm sorry to tell you, Sir, but no one besides me is around the house at the time." Stated Tori. "My mom will be back in an hour so I'll allow you to come inside to wait for her. Would you like to come in?"

"Yes." Replied the man.

Tori moved out of the way so the familiar looking man could come inside the house. She then went to the kitchen. When she got there, the man sat down in a chair at the table in the kitchen and looked at Tori.

"Would you like something to drink?" Asked Tori.

"Yes please." Replied the man.

"Does a soda sound okay to you?"

"Yes."

Tori then went into the refrigerator and got out a Coke for the man. She walked back over to the man and gave him the cold can of soda and went to get a glass of water from the fridge. She then sat down in the chair on the opposite side of where the man sat.

"How much hair spray do you use to keep you hair spiky?" Asked Tori.

"I don't use hair spray." Said the man, while opening the can of soda. "It's naturally like this."

"_So his hair's naturally like that._" Thought Tori.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you my name. My name is Victoria, but everyone calls me Tori for short. And you are…?"

It was after taking a sip from his soda that the man answered.

"Name's Cloud."

"_His name's Cloud, as in 'Cloud Strife'? That can't be right. Cloud is a made up person from Final Fantasy VII._" Thought Tori.

"You must be joking." Said Tori.

"What do you mean 'I'm joking'?" Asked Cloud.

"You can't be serious about your name. You can't be 'Cloud Strife' can you?" Stated Tori.

"That's exactly who I am."

"I don't think you get it '_Cloud_.'" Said Tori, emphasizing the name 'Cloud'. "Cloud Strife is a fictional character from a video game called Final Fantasy VII and in a movie which takes place two years after the came called Final Fantast VII: Advent Children."

"What can I do to prove to you that I am Cloud Strife?" Asked Cloud.

"Um… Why do you cover up your left arm like that? I have an idea it's not for style now, it is?"

"I had it covered up because I had geostigma o my left arm. But since I don't have it anymore, I wear it just for style."

Tori then thought of another thing to ask, his eyes.

"Can I take off you sunglasses? I want to see if your eyes are really as they had portrayed them in the movie."

It was then that Cloud nodded yes to Tori.

Tori then walked over to Cloud and placed her hands on the sides of the sunglasses to pull them away from his face. She pulled the glasses away from his eyes slowly as if she were hesitant on doing so. When she had fully removed the sunglasses, Tori gave out a soft gasp.

What she saw weren't normal blue eyes, for they were as blue as the sky and appeared to look a little darker.

"No way." Said Tori in disbelief. "Your really _are_ Cloud Strife."

Tori then sat down in her chair and looked at her hands.

"I'm sorry for not trusting you, Cloud." Said Tori.

"It's okay." Said Cloud. "I didn't expect you to believe me at first."

It was then that Tori looked up at Cloud with a confused look on her face.

"What do you mean by that?" Asked Tori.

"Exactly what I said." Replied Cloud.

"Then you're not here to see my parents, are you?" Asked Tori. "There's a different reason why you're here, is there?"

Cloud nodded yes to Tori, and then spoke.

"There's a reason why I came here, and it wasn't to see your parents."

"So…why did you come?" Asked Tori.

It was then that Tori saw Cloud tense at her question, like just saying what she said brought back a memory from long ago. I took a couple of seconds for Cloud to relax.

"It's because I have to get you out of here fast." Answered Cloud. "Soon it will no longer be safe for you here."

Tori's eyes widened at this reply from Cloud.

"No longer safe? Why? What going on?"

"It's because Sephiroth's after you I have to take you back with me to my world in order to keep you safe." Replied Cloud. "We must hurry if we're to get there before he finds out that you live here."

"Why's Sephiroth after me?"

"There's no time to explain." Replied Cloud, while putting on his sunglasses. "I'll tell you once we're back at Tifa's bar. Follow me."

Tori didn't press Cloud further into telling her why and followed him outside and into the driveway to get on his huge motorcycle. The seat was so big that it could fit two people comfortably. Cloud got on his motorcycle first and Tori got on second behind his seat.

"Tori hold on to me and don't let go, no matter what happens." Said Cloud. "I'm going to go fast and the last thing I need is for you to fall out and kill yourself."

Tori then started to blush, but held her arms around Cloud's waist. This blushing got worse when she did this.

Cloud put his motorcycle in reverse and moved out of the driveway to get going. When he backed out, he made his vehicle go forward and with incredible speed they were driving fast. Tori yelped in fright when the motorcycle went fast and closed her eyes. As Cloud made sharp turns, Tori thought she was going to fall of and was scared that she actually would.

She was now wondering if he was going past the speed limit. Tori opened her eyes and looked over Cloud's shoulder and saw that the speed they were going read 200 on the speed monitor!

"Cloud, are you insane?!" Cried Tori. "You're going 200 miles per hour for crying out loud!"

"I have to unless you want Sephiroth to find us faster!"

"If we live through this Cloud, remind me to slay you!"

It was then that Tori felt Cloud tense again, but this time she knew that it couldn't be by what she said this time.

"Whatever you do, don't look back or up!"

Curiosity got the better of her and Tori looked back up to see that they were being chased by monster. She then looked up at the sky behind them and saw a person with one black angel wing on his right side and had long silver hair. Tori knew right away who it was and paled. It was Sephiroth.

Tori then turn back to face forward and buried her face in Cloud's back.

"I'm sorry, Cloud." Said Tori "I looked back."

"It's okay. Sephiroth now know that I have got you! We need to get to the portal!"

Tori then closed her eyes shut tightly. She admitted to herself that she was scared out of her mind.

Just then Tori felt something hit her left arm and a burning pain spread through her body starting from her left arm, causing her to cry out in pain. Tori looked at her arm and saw a burn mark on it. She then buried her face in Cloud back again.

Everything then started to sound distant and she could hear Cloud's voice echoing through her ears.

"We're almost to the portal, Tori. Hang on!"

Every sound around her started to get more distant as time passed. The sound of the motorcycle was getting more distant to the point that it sounded like it was miles away from her. Just then every sound that was loud and near her disappeared from her hearing and everything went dark.

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So, what do you thing of chapter one? Please Review!


	2. Tifa And Assigned Duties

Chapter 2

Tifa And Assigned Duties

Tori felt like she was floating on water, yet she wasn't on water at all. She wasn't hot not cold, just neutral. What was happening to her?

(AN: If you have the Advent Children soundtrack, play Aerith's theme, which is song 11 on disk one.)

Just then Tori felt a soft, but warm hand being placed on her forehead.

"Who's there?" Whispered Tori.

"Open your eyes." Answered a kind sounding famine voice.

Tori opened her eyes slowly and her gaze met the face of a pretty young woman kneeling next to her on her right side.

She had blue-green colored eyes and light brown hair that could be mistaken for dirty blonde hair that was braided and had a pink ribbon to hold it. She wore a pink dress with a red short-sleeved jacket on. On her wrists were white bracelets that were thin.

It only took seconds for Tori to register who this woman was. For it was none other than Aerith.

"Aerith?"

Aerith Smiled and nodded her head to Tori. Tori didn't attempt to sit up and remained laying down on the ground…or what was the ground.

"I know how you know about our world and the people in it, Victoria. Including my friends." Said Aerith.

"You do?"

"Yes. And I know that you haven't played the game." Explained Aerith. "But you have seen the movie that takes place two year after our adventure, which was 5 months ago."

"So the events of Advent Children have happened 5 month ago in this world, huh?" Asked Tori.

Aerith nodded.

"Then why are you here? Why did you appear to me?"

"I'm sorry, but I can't explain that to you. Not yet, that is." Answered Aerith. "It is now that I must leave."

"Wait!" Cried Tori. "Don't go!"

"Don't worry. I'll come see you again next time. Goodbye."

Then a blinding flash of white appeared and as it started to blind Tori, she saw Aerith's fading image, waving goodbye to her.

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When the light faded, Tori opened her eyes slowly to find herself lying in a bed with the covers going up to her neck. It was then that she heard people talking from outside the room she was in and listened closely to what they said Tori found out that it was Cloud talking to someone, a woman at that.

"I didn't know that was what happened to her." Said the woman.

"I know Tifa. I heard her cry out in pain and when I was out of the portal, I found out that her arm had a burn on it." Said Cloud. "I came to the conclusion that Sephiroth might had hit her with one of his attacks."

"I'm glad you finally found her." Said Tifa. "I'm going to check on her to see how she is."

Tori then heard footsteps coming closer to the door to the room that she was in currently. Then she heard the door open slowly and to see Tifa (who's dressed like she does in the Advent Children movie) come into the room. When she saw that Tori was awake she smiled.

(Play Tifa's Theme if you have to CD)

"So you're awake." Said Tifa. "I'll go get Cloud."

And with that Tifa left momentarily and came back with Cloud following her into the room.

"Hi." Said Tori, noticing that her voice was raspy and her throat burnt like it did when she ran the mile at school and whenever she tried to breathe the burning in her throat would cause her to cough as if she were choking on something.

It was then that Tifa went over to the nightstand next to the bed se was in and Tori saw that she had a glass of water. Tori mentally slapped herself for not having a good sense to be aware of her surroundings.

After grabbing the water Tifa helped Tori by holding her in a sitting position as Tori tilted her head so she would drink the water. She was grateful for having something to drink. Tifa then laid Tori back down on the bed and placed the glass of water back on the nightstand.

"How are you feeling?" Asked Tifa.

"Sore." Replied Tori. "But otherwise, okay, I guess."

"That's good. Since you know the names of us and our friends, could you tell me your name?"

"My name's Victoria, but I like to be called Tori for short. What happened?"

It was then that Cloud spoke.

"When we made it through the portal I found you unconscious. It was then that I saw your left arm and that it had a burn on it." Explained Cloud. "I brought you back to the Seventh Heaven, Tifa's bar, and she's been taking care of you."

"My left arm has a burn?"

Tori tried to bring her left arm out from under the covers but was met by pain when she bent it.

"What the crap?" Tori hissed in pain. "What's wrong with my arm?"

Tori used her right arm and unfolded the covers around her to see that her arm was wrapped up in bandages. She gave off a look of confusion and looked to Tifa for an answer. Luckily, she got on out of the young bartender.

"We found out that the blast that hit your arm broke it and left a burnt mark on the surface of your skin." Explained Tifa. "It will probably take a week or two for it to fully heal, though."

"That's good." Said Tori. "Thank you for your help. I'm in your debt."

"You don't have to do anything." Said Tifa. "We were glad to help."

"But can't I at least do something to help out around here?" Asked Tori.

"I don't want you to do anything that will hurt your left arm, so I'll give you something easy to do for now."

"Thank you, Tifa." Said Tori with a smile.

"Your welcome." Replied Tifa.

It was then that a little girl and boy both a t the age of 7 came into the room.

The girl had brown hair that was in a braid with a pink ribbon with brown eyes.

The boy had spiky light brown hair with blue eyes.

When they saw Tori they smiled.

"Tifa, is that A—" Said the little girl.

Tifa bent down in front of the little girl and shook her head as if she need her to say something else.

"Is that the guest?" Asked the little girl.

"Yes Marlene. That's our guest." Tifa turned to Tori. "Her name is Tori. Tori, this is Marlene."

"Hi." Said Marlene with a smile.

"And this is Denzel."

"Hi." Said Denzel.

"Nice to meet the two of you." Said Tori.

"Tori. What I'm going to have you do is take care of Marlene and Denzel when I'm busy working." Explained Tifa.

"You mean like babysitting?" Said Tori.

"Yes, babysitting."

"That's okay with me."

"It's time to open the bar so can you take care of them now?" Asked Tifa.

"Sure thing." Replied Tori.

It was then that Marlene lightly grabbed Tori's right hand causing her to look down at the little girl.

"Come with us." Said Marlene. "With me and Denzel."

Tori couldn't help but smile at Marlene and followed her and Denzel to their room. The two kids sat on one of the beds and Tori sat on the other.

"So tell us about you, Tori." Said Denzel.

"Please, tell us." Said Marlene.

"Well, my full name is Victoria Stam, but I like to be called Tori for short." Started Tori. "I'm 16 years old and I'm the middle born of my family. I have two sisters and no brothers. My older sister's name is Ashleigh and she's 18, and my little sister's name is Jackie and she's 12. I'm from Virginia. Last time I was there is was summer."

"Virginia?" Asked Marlene.

"I've never heard of a place called Virginia before." Stated Denzel.

"It's not in this world. I was brought here yesterday by Cloud."

It was quiet until Tori spoke again.

"So, what do you two want to do?" Asked Tori.

"We're not sure." Replied Marlene.

"How about drawing?" Suggested Tori.

"That sounds like a good idea." Said Denzel.

"I'll draw too, tokay."

"Okay!" Said the two kids.


	3. Meeting Vincent Valentine

AN: There is a bonus in this chapter to make things interesting. Note that it does really happen and that it's for a joke.

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Chapter 3

Meeting Vincent Valentine

2 weeks passed and Tori's left arm was fully healed and wasn't broken anymore so she was able to do more things to help around the Seventh Heaven.

During her stay Tori got to know everyone that lived there more than she originally knew back home.

Cloud was like an older brother to Tori and was quiet sometimes and always kept to himself. One time she caught him staring at her for some reason. Whatever it was, Tori didn't have a clue.

Marlene and Denzel were the sweetest kids she ever met. They were like the perfect kids.

Tifa was like her older sister Ashleigh, but was kinder and mother-like.

Today Tifa had Tori go out to the store to buy stuff. But she didn't know that Edge was such was big place.

Once or twice Tori had to ask the locals where she could find the store and they pointed her in the right direction.

One the list that Tifa gave her was as followed:

_4 dozen eggs_

_10 packs of meat_

_6 gallons of milk_

_4 packs of rice_

_4 bags of bread_

_4 packs of cheese_

"_What is Tifa going to do with all this stuff?_" Thought Tori as she entered the store.

Thankfully, Tifa gave her the amount of Gil to buy all this stuff. Tori got everything on the list and made she that she didn't forget anything. When she was done she went up to the cashier and paid for the stuff (which happened to be 400 Gil) and left the store. For so much on a list, the stuff in the bag wasn't a lot at all (she carried the two bags in her right hand).

As Tori made her way back to Seventh Heaven, she felt like she was being watched and turned around to find a man standing in front of her a little too close for her liking.

The man looked to be 27 and was at the height of 6'2; he had skin that (as she noted) was as pale as Tori's skin. He had long black hair that came down mid-back and had a red headband that was supposedly trying to keep his long bangs out of his face, but failed miserably. His blood red eyes were gazing down at Tori and she found it disturbing whenever she tried to look at them. It was the first time she actually saw a person with red eyes!

He wore black clothes that looked like they were made of leather and a long red torn up cloak covered the man's chest where most of his black shirt was; his cloak covered the lower half of his face and was held with what seemed like hundreds of buckles. On his left hand he wore what seemed to be a brass colored claw-like glove and on his right hand was a normal black leather glove.

On his feet he wore black boot that came up to under his knee and over the foot part of the boot were brass foot-guards that were pointy and just looking at them made Tori want to say, "Damn, your shoes are pointy. You just might poke someone's eye out."

On his right leg was a leather strap that held (in Tori's opinion) an awesome looking gun.

It took Tori a second to know who this man was. It was Vincent Valentine (AN: what kind of person would want their last name to be Valentine).

"Where can I buy a phone?" Asked Vincent.

Tori found it difficult to move; it was like she was planted in place and her legs now felt like lead. She took a step back with much difficulty, but Vincent took a step forward towards here.

"_Damn! Why did Vincent have to look as sexy as he did in the movie?_" Thought Tori. She then mentally slapped herself. "_That's it! No more thinking thoughts like that anymore!_"

"At Verizon Wireless." Replied Tori.

"Horizon Wireless?" Asked Vincent.

Tori slapped her hand to her face.

"No… Ver-i-zon Wireless." Explained Tori.

"And where is that?" Asked Vincent, his eyes narrowing. That wasn't a good sign.

Vincent's intense red eyes were disturbing Tori to the point that she felt a shiver go down her spin.

"_I wish that Vincent would stop staring at me with those disturbing red eyes of his. They're scaring the crap out of me!_" Thought Tori.

"Obviously not here." Said Tori. She then mutter the last part. "In this world that is…"

"What do you mean 'not in this world'?" Asked Vincent.

Tori looked at Vincent with wide eyes.

"Y-your heard that?"

Vincent nodded.

"Where are you from?" Asked Vincent.

Tori then started to get nervous and looked at her watch (that was on her left wrist) and saw that it was 4:01; an hour from since she had left the Seventh Heaven. She came up with an excuse that was actually true.

"Oh, would you look at the time!" Said Tori trying to sound surprised. "I better get back to Tifa's before she started to worry about where I am."

It was then that Tori left, leaving Vincent behind. Oblivious to Tori, Vincent started to smirk.

Tori ran as fast as she could back to Tifa's bar. When she got in front of the doors, Tori calmly went in. When she was inside Tori froze in place and what she saw made her pale. Sitting at one of the tables in a chair listening to Tifa talk was Vincent.

"It's YOU!" Said Tori in disbelief.

**Bonus **

"It's YOU!" Said Tori in disbelief.

Vincent and Tifa looked over to the entrance and saw Tori with wide eyes on her face.

"Oh, it's you." Said Vincent.

"It's me!" Said Tori with a silly smile on her face.

It was then that Tifa burst of laughing like a maniac and fell to the floor, rolling. Tori saw this and started laughing at Tifa so hard that she couldn't breathe and had tears in her eyes. She fell to the floor and hit her head but was still conscious and laughing her head off.

It was then that Vincent stood up and stared at Tori. Cloud came into the room and when he saw Tifa and Tori on the floor laughing their heads off he stared at the two like they were mad.

"Are you going to have an concussion?" Asked Vincent.

"No! But I know that I can't breathe!" Said Tori between laughs.

**End of Bonus **

It was then that Cloud came into the room to see what was going on and when he saw Vincent, he knew he would understand if he just came into the room. Tori didn't notice that Cloud was in the room.

"Why are you here? Scratch that! How did you get here before me?" Asked Tori.

"I flew." Replied Vincent.

"Oh, so now you're saying that you just sprouted wings?" Said Tori sarcastically.

"No."

"Then HOW?"

"I simply used my abilities to fly here."

"_Dammit! How could I forget that he could do that?_" Thought Tori. "_He did that in the movie for crying out loud!_"

"Tifa explained to me about you and about your predicament." Said Vincent.

"Tifa!" Yelled Tori.

"He needs to know about you and where you came from, Tori." Said Tifa.

"Tifa's right. Vincent has to know." Said Cloud.

Tori turned and saw Cloud.

"Cloud? Since when did you come in?" Asked Tori.

"I've been standing here and seen everything." Explained Cloud.

It was then that Vincent stood up and started to walk over to the entrance. Before he went out the door, Vincent stooped in front of Tori and (again) stood a little too close to her.

"Goodbye for now, Victoria."

And with that Vincent left, leaving Tori shocked with fright

"Tifa?" Asked Tori.

"Yes, Tori."

"I can't believe you told him my real name!" Said Tori a little loud.

"He had to know." Stated Cloud.

"Well, yeah, but he doesn't have to know my full name!" Shouted Tori.

It was with that that Tori ran out the door and went into the town square.


	4. An Asshole Named Reno

Aerith The Evenstar: Yay! my first review! Thank you for your review.

Declaimer:

Cloud, Tifa, and Vincent are sitting in chairs talking to each other while ATE sits around thinking.

Tifa: Aren't you going to say the declaimer, Cloud?

Cloud: I thought Vincent was going to say it.

Vincent: I can't do that.

ATE: I'll say the declaimer! You guys can relax. (ATE clears throat) I don't own Final Fantasy or anything that involves the creation of such a master piece, Square Enix is the rightful owner of it. I only own Tori and that it.

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Chapter 4

An Asshole Named Reno

Tori sat on a bench in the town square and started to think while looking at the ground. What was itthat was so important about her that Cloud and Tifa had to tell Vincent?

"_Before I know it, the rest of Cloud's friends are going to know about me._" Thought Tori. "_But what did Vincentmean when he was talking about now knowing my predicament? Am I really that important?_"

Then Tori heard footsteps coming towards her and then saw the person's feet. She looked up and saw a guy in front of her.

He looked to be in his 20's or something like that and had long red hair that was spiky at the top, but was in a pony tail that reached to below his waist. On his head was a pair of goggles and near his eyes above his cheeks were two red tattoos.

The way he wore his business suit wasn't very decent; his white shirt wasn't tucked into his pants as the two buttons at thetop of it were unbuttoned and his black suit was all unbuttoned as well.

Tori knew this guy also. He was (as she called him) that asshole named Reno. Oh, and what's this? He actually without Rude!

"Um... Is there something you need?" Asked Tori.

"I just saw a pretty girl looking a little down in the dumps and decided to see what was wrong." Said Reno.

"_How cliche! He's trying to hit on me._" Thought Tori.

"I know what you're trying to do!" Said Tori.

"Wha?" Asked Reno confused. "You do?"

"Yeah! Well I got news for you buddy, i'm not available and I never will be!" Said Tori. "You got that?"

"Dammit!" Said Reno. "How did you know what I was trying to do?"

"It's pretty obvious by your lame pick up line."

"Dammit again!"

"Well, I'm going now."

Tori walked away from Reno and started making her way back to Tifa's. When she made it back Tori went inside and saw that Tifa and Cloud were waiting for her patiently.

"Back so soon?" Asked Tifa.

"I have my reasons." Said Tori.

"Care to explain?" Asked Cloud.

"Let's just say, I ran into an asshole named Reno." Stated Tori.

"Okay, what did he do?" Asked Cloud.

"He tried to hit on me!" Said Tori. "Luckily, I had my infamous excuse for the subject."

"And what would that be?" Asked Tifa.

"I used the 'I'm not available and I never will be' excuse." Stated Tori.

It was then that Cloud came up to Tori so that he was standing in front of her. In a flash something collided with Tori's left cheek, leaving it stinking like crap and she had to hold it with her left hand to soothe the pain. Tori looked up and saw that Cloud's right hand was raised. It was then that it occured to Tori that Cloud had slapped her.

"Ow! What was that for?" Whined Tori.

"That was for makingme and Tifa worry about you when you ran out of here." Replied Cloud.

It was then that Tori remembered something that she had said to Cloud.

"Guess what Cloud?" Said Tori.

"What is it?"

"I got some good news and some bad news."

"Okay, tell me." Said Cloud.

"The bad news is that you slapped me." Stated Tori. "The good news is that you remindedme to slap you."

"What do you mean by 'reminded you to slap me'?" Asked Cloud.

**Flashback **

_Tori wondered if Cloud was going past the speed limit. She looked over his shoulder and saw that the speed they were going read 200 on the speed monitor!_

_"Cloud, are you insane?!" Cried Tori. "You're going 200 miles per hour for crying out loud!"_

_"I have to unless you want Sephiroth to find us faster!" Said Cloud._

_"If welive through this Cloud, remind me to slap you!" Said Tori._

**End of Flashback **

"Oh, now I remember." Said Cloud.

"Oh, now he remembers!" Said Tori.

Tori then slapped Cloud's left cheek and left a slap mark. Surprisingly, Cloud took the blow like a man.

"_Wow, Cloud's mature enough to take my slap without complaining. It's like he didn't even feel it at all!_" Thought Tori. "_He didn't even flinch at the pain._"

"I'm going to be." Said Tori. "NightTifa, night Cloud."

With that Tori went to her room, which originally was one of the many guest rooms in the Seventh Heaven. Tori went in and put on her PJs that Tifa gave here and with some of her old clothes that were what Tori called hand-me-downs.

Tori got in bed but stayed up with a lot of things to think about what happened today. First going to the store to get food and her little encounter with Vincent and him now knowing something about her that she didn't even know about herself and wasn't even told about it by her friends.

And everyone seemed to be hiding something from Tori. It was as if they were sworn to secrecy. And Aerith! She didn't even tell Tori why she appeared to her and like everyone else, she was hiding something.

What was it that they were hiding from her?


	5. The Braid Of Friendship

ATE: I'm haaappy! I'm haaappy! To my reviewer Devil-Speaker I would like to thank you for your reviews. Although in your last review, you stated that Tori might be a remnent of Aerith. You'll just have to wait and see...or in this case, read. Here's the update of chapter 5. Enjoy readers, enjoy.

Declaimer:

Cloud: Oh, it's the declaimer again...

Tifa: One thing's for sure that I'm not doing it!

Cloud: And why not?

Tifa: I just don't like doing it.

Cloud: You haven't even said a declaimer.

(ATE walkes into the room and stands there looking at Cloud and Tifa.)

ATE: I don't own Final Fantasy or anything that has to do with it. I own only Tori and that's just about it.

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Chapter 5

The Braid Of Friendship And Embarrassment

Tori woke up the next morning and got dressed in a white sleeveless shirt with a blue skirt that reached to just below her knees before going downstairs for breakfast. When she was outside her room Tori saw Marlene with her hair down before she put it a braid. Tori went up to her.

"Good morning, Marlene." Said Tori.

"Good morning, Tori." Said Marlene.

"Can I braid your hair?"

It was then that Marlene started to look like she was thinking before replying.

"Sure you can. Can I braid your hair?"

"Of course, Marlene." Replied Tori.

It was then that Tori followed Marlene into her room and the little girl sat on her bed as Tori got the brush and started to brush Marlene's hair.

Tori didn't have a hasle with Marlene's hair as she thought she would; is was quite easy, really. When Tori was done brushing Marlene's hair, she got out a pink ribbon and a ponytail holder and set to work.

Tori did her best to make a beautiful braid out of Marlene's hair. Tori then talked to Marlene as she braided her hair.

"You know, Marlene? This reminds me of the time when I used to braid my little sister's hair when she was your age." Said Tori, reflecting back on her memories. Oh, the memories of being back home. Those memories were the only thing that she had left of her family and her supposed normal life. "You remind me of my little sister yourself.

"How old were you when she was 7 years old?" Asked Marlene.

"I was 10 years old when she was 7." Answered Tori.

Whe she made it, Tori first used the ponytail holder to hold the braid so it wouldn't come undone and tied the ribbon carefully on the little girl's hair. She was now done

"There you go, Marlene." Said Tori.

"Thanks Tori." Said Marlene. "Now it's my turn to braid your hair."

Tori couldn't help by smile at Marlene.

Marlene got out a ponytail holder along with a pink ribbon. The little girl started to brush Tori's hair while humming a cute song. To Tori, Marlene seemed to be enjoying braiding her hair.

"All done!" Said Marlene proudly.

"Thank you Marlene." Said Tori. "How about we go and get some breakfast?"

"Okay."

With that Tori and Marlene went downstairs to have breakfast. When they got downstairs Tori saw that breakfast was already made and was in the kitchen nearby and everyone at the table was eating their breakfast (which was eggs and bacon).

Cloud and Tifa were drinking their coffee while eating their food and Denzel was drinking mild and eating his breakfast.

Tori and Marlene went into the kitchen and got their share of the eggs and bacon. Tori got out a glass of OJ (what she and myself call orange juice)

and Marlene got some too. When they got their food and drink, they went to the table.

Tori sat between Denzel and Marlene at tht table and on Denzel's right was Cloud and on Marlene's left was Tifa.

It was after Tori sat down that Cloud spoke.

"Look who decided to come down to eat?" Said Cloud.

Tori then looked in the direction of Cloud.

"Was that supposed to be funny, Cloud?" Asked Tori.

"Maybe."

"Looks like you can't decide if you were trying to be funny or not."

"You never know with Cloud." Said Tifa.

"That's for sure." Said Tori.

"I sometimes wonder what goes through your head." Said Cloud.

"I heard that Cloud!" Said Tori. "So how about you go back to sipping your coffee and eating your food? Besides, I think you need the caffeine."

"I would think thatyou would drink coffee also at your age."

"Well do you see me drinking coffee? No! And I have my reasons not to."

"And they would be?"

Tori didn't want to admit it to Cloud or everyone at the table so she kept quiet. Cloud was still staring at Tori, waiting patiently for an answer. That stare was irritating Tori to the point that she couldn't take it anymore.

"Okay, I admit it!" Said Tori, throwing her hands up in the air defeated. "I don't like drinking coffee because I just don't like the taste, okay?"

It was then that Tifa looked shocked at Tori but Cloud didn't look shocked one bit.

"You don't like coffee?" Asked Tifa. "What do you mean by that?"

"Exactly what I said, Tifa." Replied Tori. "I don't like drinking coffee because of the taste; same with any kind of soda. I don't know why, though."

"So that's why you didn't drink a soda when I was at you house." Said Cloud.

"Ya betta believe it, daredevil!" Said Tori.

Everyone at the able was still staring at her like she was mad or something. It was then that Tifa was about to say something, but Tori stopped her.

"And Tifa, don't you dare call me a 'soda-hater' since I don't like soda!" Said Tori. "I was called that back home by my friend as a joke." (AN: This part is true. My friend Amanda called me a soda-hater as a joke in 7th grade and it's true that I don't like coffee and soda.)

It was then that everyone started laughing at Tori. Surprisingly, Cloud was laughing too.

"_Cloud's laughing! Never saw that coming...It'll be the end of the world as we all know it!" _Thought Tori.

Tori went to trying to finish her food quickly toescape embarrassment #1 for the day. When they stopped laughing they saw her eating her food fast and burst out laughing again, embarrassment #2.

When Tori finished her food, she quickly went into the kitchen and rinsed her plate off and quickly made her way up the stairs, ran into her room, and locked the door from inside.

5 minutes passed until Tori heard a knock on her door and looked at it.

"Who is it?" Asked Tori.

"It's me and Denzel." Said the person voice, which Tori recognized as Marlene.

Tori got up from her bed and walked over to the doorand unlocked it. She opened it and saw that it was indeed Marlene and Denzel.

"Hey guys." Said Tori, while bending down to give them hugs, which they gladly accepted.

"Why did you rush to your room after eating?" Asked Denzel.

"It's because I got a little embarrassed today, that's all." Replied Tori. "Although I usually like making people laugh like I did today."

"_What's wrong with me today?_" Thought Tori.

"I can understand that." Stated Marlene.

"I'm glad you can, Marlene." Said Tori. "Let's go back downstairs."

With that Tori followed Marlene and Denzel downstairs. Tifa was doing dishes and Tori went to help her finish them. 5 minutes later Cloud came into the room and looked at Tori.

"Tori." Said Cloud.

Tori looked up and saw Cloud looking at her.

"Yes Cloud?"

"You need to come with me to see a friend of mine. He wants to meet you."

"Okay. I'll come."

With that Tori walked around the counter and followed Cloud to the door and they left.

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ATE: What do you thing? I forgot to mention that if I get any facts from Final Fantasy VII wrong, please tell me. But review anyways.


	6. The Truth Really Does Hurt

Chapter 6

The Truth Really Does Hurt

Tori and Cloud got outside the Seventh Heaven and he got on his motorcycle while she sat behind him. When she was in the seat Cloud started the engine and they were off. As they were making their way to who knows where, Tori was wondering where they were going.

"Hey, Cloud. Where does your friend live?" Asked Tori.

"He lives in Rocket Town, but he said to meet him at another bar that's here in town." Answered Cloud.

As they got to the town square Cloud took a left and in minutes they arrived outside of a place called 'King's Delight' (AN: I was thinking turkish delight but decided against it). Cloud parked his motorcycle and Tori followed him inside the bar. When they got inside a man, which Tori recognized as Cid, saw them and came up to them.

"Hey Cloud!" Said Cid. "Long time not see!"

Tori thought that Cid sounded like a redneck (AN: I happen to have nothing against rednecks. I just like their Southern accent).

"Same here." Said Cloud.

It was then that Cid saw Tori and had a grin on his face.

"So you brought her here? It's nice ta meet ya. I'm Cid."

"My name's Tori. Nice to meet you, gramps."

"Don't call me gramps!"

"Sorry. Couldn't resist."

"Well anyways." Said Cid. "How about we have ourselves a drink or two, Cloud. It's all on me."

It was then that Tori raised her hand like she would do in school. Cid and Cloud noticed this and looked at her with a look that said, "what is it?"

"Not to be a smart-aleck and all, but I can't drink alcoholic beverages, since I'm 16 years of age." Stated Tori.

"Tori's right." Said Cloud.

"Well, that problem can be solved easily. Get her water, that's all." Explained Cid.

It was then that Tori, Cloud, and Cid made their way to the bar and got themselves drinks. Tori ordered water while Cloud and Cid ordered beer.

An hour later Tori was on her second glass of water while Cloud and Cid were on their eighth mug of beer! Their EIGHTH mug of BEER! Unlike his usual self, Cloud had started getting talkative since finishing his fourth mug of beer. And Cid was talking with sentences having tons of cursing in them. In other words, they were BOTH drunk. Tori stared at them like they had just grown two heads or something.

"So I was like '#$ #$ #$ #$ Shera! I can't believe you #$ ruined my #$ #$ #$ food! #$ #$ #$ #$ #$ #$ #$ #$ #$!'" Explained Cid.

"I understand what you mean, Cid. I would have #$ done the same #$ thing!" Said Cloud.

"See you #$ kid! You never change, you filthy son of a #$! #$ #$ #$ #$ #$ #$ #$ #$ #$ #$ #$!!"

"_AH! My ears! They can't take it any longer!_" Thought Tori. "_I need to do something and fast!_"

It was then that Tori took a mouth-full of her water and gulped nervously. She grabbed hold of Cloud's arm and tried to pull him away from his drink and out of the chair he was sitting in.

"Okay, Cloud." Said Tori. "It looks like your excitement has overwhelmed you to the point that you might go crazy any minute."

Tori then looked at Cid and put on a fake smile; since Cid was drunk he wouldn't be able to tell the difference between a fake and genuine smile.

"Thank you Cid for having us spend time with you. I wasgladto meet you, but it looks like it's time for me and Cloud to go back so we don't keep Tifa waiting any longer." Said Tori, dragging Cloud to the door. "Bye."

"It was nice meeting ya too." Said Cid. "Take care.

With that Tori dragged Cloud outside and with some difficulty set him against the wall of the building.

"Okay, Cloud. Remind me to make sure you don't drink a lot of beer next time. Especially EIGHT mugs full of beer!" Said Tori, sighing.

Cloud looked up at Tori with his blue eyes from where he was sitting on the ground.

"Aerith?"

It was then that Tori looked down at Cloud with a look of confusion on her face. She watched as Cloud startedto stand up tall in front of her. Before Tori knew it, she found herself in Cloud's arms as heheld her close.

"Aerith." Said Cloud. "I thought you were dead."

It was then that Tori tried to pull away from Cloud, but he making it difficult. Eventuallyshe got herself free from his hold and looked up at him.

"What are you talking about Cloud? I'n not Aerith! I'm Tori!"

"What do you mean Aerith?"

"Cloud! Listen to me! You - are - drunk! You thinkI'm someone that I'm not!" Explained Tori.

"I don't think you're Aerith. I know you're Aerith."

It was then that Tori backed away from Cloud while shaking her head in denial of what was being said to her.

"I can't believe what you're saying." Said Tori in disbelief. "I think you lost your mind and gone mad!"

It was on her sixth step backwards that she decided to run away from Cloud and ran as fast as her legs could carry her back (to what she now considered Tifa's bar) home.

"_What the hell was Cloud talking about?_" Thought Tori. "_I'm not Aerith! He claimsme to be someone I'm not!_"

It was then that Tori remembered what Marlene had said when she first met her.

**Flashback **

_"Tifa, is that A--" Said Marlene._

_Tifa bent down in front of Marlene and shook her head as if she needed her to say something else._

_"Is that the guest?" Asked Marlene._

**End of Flashback **

Tori then stopped running when she was just in front of the Seventh Heaven. Marlene said "Is that A--" and Tori figured out what she was trying to say. She was tryingto say if she was Aerith. Tori ran inside Tifa's bar.

"Tori, what's wrong?" Asked Tifa. "Where's Cloud?"

Tori ignored Tifa's question and ran up the stairs into her room. When she got inside, Tori closed the door and locked it behind her. She ran to her bed and and collapsed on it, burying her head in the covers.

"_So they all knew!_" Thought Tori. "_Cloud...Tifa...Marlene...and now Vincent! They all knew and they didn't even tell me! Even Aerith knew and she decided not to even tell me either!_"

It was then that Tori yelled into her covers and then into her pillow. It was then that she had a thought.

"_I'll never come out of this room, not even for food or to see anyone. I'll stay here for the rest of my life._"

It was that final decision that Tori decided to take. She was too devastated by the truth. It hurt like nothing she had experienced in her life. It hurt more than getting burned by fire, having an arm or leg broken, and more than a blade slicing a person's skin or being stabbed and the blade goes through one side to the other.

Tori's life seemed to be falling apart in her hands, piece by piece.


	7. Isolation Is Pain And Punishment

ATE: My fingures hurt. I have finally typed chapter 7 for all you readers out their reading this fan fiction. Enjoy!

Declaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy, I only own Tori.

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Chapter 7

Isolation Is Pain And Punishment

It had been 3 days since Tori locked herself inside her room. Are you wondering how she had survived so long without food? True she never went outside her room for anything, not even food or to talk to anybody. Tori didn't eat anything at all; shoe only drank water and that came from her sink in her bathroom.

That wasn't the only thing that changed. During her isolation, she had lost weight to the point that people would think she was anorexic and her skin was whiter than before,

making her look like a ghost from the lack of going outside and into the sunlight. The window (which she kept open) of her room was the only source of light, save the light switches for her bathroom, lamp, and room.

Once or twice a day, the others had tried to get her out of her room. Even Marlene and Denzel had begged her to come out, and it made Tori's heart break into pieces at how she denied them of their request.

All she ever did was sit in her room and sleep and whenever she got hungry she would drink water. But that only made her less thirsty than hungry and she told herself to deal with it no matter what.

It was then that Tori heard a knock on her door. When she didn't reply the person outside her door then spoke.

"Tori? It's me, Cloud. Will you let me in?"

"No..." Answered Tori quietly but loud enough for Cloud to hear her.

"I'm sorry. Please come out, Tori. We really miss you, especially Marlene and Denzel."

"I won't come out... Not now...and not ever. There's nothing left for me out there...or outside of this room."

"I didn't mean for you to learn the truth the way it happened 3 nights ago." Stated Cloud.

"You hid the truth from me...even though you told the others, you decided not to tell me. And I hate you all for just that reason."

"Don't give up on your life like this. We were going to tell you eventually."

"BULLSHIT!!!" Yelled Tori. "That's what you want me to think! You were never going to tell me in the first place, you bastard!"

"Tori, please hear me out! I--"

"Go to hell!! I don't care about what you have to say!! I don't want to ever hear your damn voice again!!"

With that Tori heard Cloud's footsteps walk away from her door and down the stairs. Tori then went to sleep.

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(AN: Play Aerith's theme from the AC CD if you have it.)

Tori found that she was in the same place where she first met Aerith. The place was all white and she couldn't tell the ceiling from the floor and walls, but what appeared to be lilies of white and yellow colors surrounded the floor this time. She stood up and looked around the find her. It was then that she heard a voice behind her and Tori knew that she and Aerith were standing back to back against each other.

"I know you're there, Aerith." Said Tori quietly. "Why didn't ypu tell me the truth?"

"Because you wouldn't have understood what you really are, Victoria." Replied Aerith.

"Then...what am I? Who am I?"

Tori heard Aerith sigh and waited for her to speak. Soon the Cetra spoke.

"You are really me. You are my reincarnation."

Tori then felt a hand on her arm and knew that it was Aerith's hand. She turned around to face the woman who claimed Tori to be her reincarnation.

"Give me your hand." Said Aerith.

(AN: Play Water from the AC CD.)

Tori held out her right hand and then looked up at Aerith's face to find she was smiling at her. She then felt something like warm water flowing over or through her right hand to her arm. She looked down at the hand Aerith was holding and saw a light color of green blue light flowing up Tori's arm (the color of the Lifestream). And with that Aerith and the place filled with flowers disappeared from Tori's sight.

--------------------------------------------------

While Tori was in her room

--------------------------------------------------

Cloud walked downstair and came up to Tifa who was sitting at one of the tables with her face in her hands as if she were stressed out. It was already the evening and the light from the sun setting outside made the inside of the bar appear a dark orange.

"How did it go?" Asked Tifa.

"I wasn't able to get Tori out of her room." Replied Cloud. "Not even Marlene and Denzel were able to get her out of her room, even though she would do anything for them."

"Then it's hopless. She'll never come out of that room."

"It's all because I was drunk on that night." Said Cloud regrettably. "I thought andsaid that she was Aerith when I was drunk and the truth slipped out of my mouth without my controlling it."

"What will we do, Cloud. Tori has been in her room for 3 days straight! Is there no way to get her to understand?"

As if their question had been answered, Vincent came into the Seventh Heaven and walked up to Cloud and Tifa. Cloud noticed Vincent and acknowledged his presence.

"Vincent. How are you?" Asked Cloud.

Tifa turned to see Vincent.

"I'm fine. I came to see how everything's been." Said Vincent. "Is there a problem?"

"Yes, there's a problem." Answerd Tifa. "It's about Tori."

"What about her?"

"I was drunk on the night 3 days ago and I accidentally told her that she was Aerith." Said Cloud.

"Ever since that night Tori has locked herself inside her room and hasn't come out for anything, not even food! We have all wondered how she's been able to manage without eating for 3 days. We came to the conclusion that she isn't eating food but drinking water from her sink instead, unless she has a hidden stash of food. It's the only possible explaination that she's still alive for that long. We've tried talking to her, but she just won't budge. Marlene and Denzel have tried to get her to come out, but she doesn't, and she would usually listen to them. We're worried about her and her health." Stated Tifa.

"Maybe I could be able to talk some sense into that girl." Said Vincent.

"What do you mean by that?" Asked Tifa.

"Do you remember 2 years ago when your group found me in the basement of the old Shinra Mansion? I had locked myself in the basement inside a coffin because I couldn't forgive myself for my sins. What Tori is going through now is similar to what I've done myself. She's locked herself in her room because she isnt' able to handle the truth and is trying hard to deny it." Explained Vincent. (AN: I haven't played Final Fantasy VII. If I got this fact wrong tell me in a review, please.)

"In english, please?" Said Tifa.

"She has basically lost all your trust and is staying in her room as her own punishment. If Tori continues the way she is now, she will most likely die by the end of this month."

At this Tifa and Cloud had a look of shock and horror.

"She'll die?" Cried Tifa in disbelief.

Vincent nodded his head to answer her question.

"We have to do something! We shold tell her!" Stated Cloud.

"That wouldn't be a good idea." Stated Vincent.

"Why?" Asked Cloud.

"Think about it, Cloud. Tori has lost your trust. She would think that you were lying to her and only deny what you would be telling her. As I stated before, I'll got talk to her."

"But how? The door to her room is alway locked and hasn't been opened in 3 days!" Said Tifa.

"Before I came in here, I saw that her window was opened. I could come in through there tonight to talk to her."

"I hope you'll be able to get Tori to come to her senses." Said Cloud. "If this doesn't work...nothing will."

"Then let's just hope this will work." Stated Vincent.

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ATE: Heh heh! You weren't expecting Tori to go all angry like that, were you? If you thought Tori was fully angry in chapter 3, then you were completely wrong. It doesn't stop here, but her anger will end soon, I promise

Tori: ...

Cloud: Tori, I said I was sorry. Please forgive me!

Tori: ...

Cloud: (Turns to Tifa and shakes his head) I told you it wouldn't work, Tifa.

Tifa: I can't believe that didn't work either!

ATE: Tori, please talk to your friends. (Tori whispers something in ATE's ear. The authoress turns to Cloud and Tifa while Tori looks away from them.) Tori said that she wouldn't forgive you Cloud and that you could just be damned and go to hell.

Tifa: (Falls to the floor crying) There's no hope!

ATE: Aaanyways, please review! (Goes over to Tifa hand pats her back.) It'll be over soon, Tifa. I can tell you that much.


	8. The Redemption Of Tori

Declaimer:

Cloud, Tifa, and ATE are sitting at a table drinking lemonade.

ATE: (clears throat) I--

Cloud: (Getting up from his chair and putting his hand over ATE's mouth) Let me do it this time. You've done it all so far. Take a break. (ATE nods while Cloud releases her mouth) ATE doesn't own Final Fantasy or us at the matter. She only owns herself and her OC Tori (Mutters) _who isn't talking to me._

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Chapter 8

The Redemption Of Tori And The Tears Of Sorrow

Tori woke up in the middle fo the night because she was thristy for water. She got out of the covers of her bed, picked up the cup that was on the nightstand on her right, and walked into the door that led to her bathroom. As Tori filled her glass with water from the sink, she heard the sound of raindrops htting the window with the occasional sound of thunder and lightning. When she was done filling up her glass of water and drinking it, Tori sat the cup on the sink and walked back into her room to get into bed again.

As Tori walked back into her room, she noticed that since it was raining outside it made her room appear darker in the lightning. It was then that a flash of lightning sounded loudly outside, making the room flash a little bright and when it faded, Tori saw a person and freaked out. Okay, maybe freaked out wasn't the word, it was an understatement of how she felt now.

"AHH!! It's Count Dracula!!" Cried Tori, who then fell to the ground and landed on her butt. "Ow..."

It was then that the supposed figure that Tori thought was Count Dracula walked up to her and gazed down on her with his blook red eyes. Wait a minute! The last time Tori checked, Dracula didn't have blood red eyes, did he?

"Count Dracula?" Asked the person with a familiar voice.

Suspicion confirmed. Definitely NOT Count Dracula! The famous fictional vampire of those black and white horror movies didn't have a very deep voice like this person. That left one person in her memory. Vincent!

"Vincent!" Cried Tori. "How did you get into my room?"

"I came in through your window."

It was then that realization hit Tori in the head like a ton of bricks. She looked at her window and remembered that she had indeed left it open.

"Dammit!" Cursed Tori under her breathe. "I knew I should have kept my window closed!"

"Who is Count Dracula?" Asked Vincent.

"He's you." Tori said sarcastically. Vincent didn't find Tori's sarcasasm remark funny and intensed his gaze on her. Tori now knew that he didn't take kindly to jokes. "He's a vampire."

"I assure you, I am no vampire." Stated Vincent.

"Obviously." Muttered Tori.

Tori then stood up and walked over to sit on her bed, while Vincent walked back to where he originally stood when she saw him.

"Okay. Here's the million dollar question...or in this case the million...gil question: Why are you here in my room?"

"Because we need to talk."

"Don't tell me. Cloud and Tifa made you come and talk to me, didn't they?" Said Tori. "Well, you can tell them that I don't give a damn."

"I'm not here to play 'messenger-boy' for you. Cloud and Tifa didn't make me come to talk to you, I chose to do so."

"And you're telling me this because...?"

"Because what you're doing now will endanger your life. If you continue likethis, you will surely die."

Tori took interest in her bed sheets and looked at them instead of Vincent.

"What a laugh! You make it sound like my life's that important. Like my dying's going to be the end of the world, big deal!"

It was then that Vincent narrowed his eyes at Tori.

"Your life is actually that important."

Tori then looked up at Vincent, daring to actually make eye contact with his blood red eyes.

"_I must be incredibly brave or incredibly stupid to look him in the eye._" Thought Tori.

"You must be shitting me."

"I'm not."

"Do you even know why I'm stayingin my room like this? It's because Cloud and Tifa tell their friends, including you, that I'm some dead person reborn, and they don't even tell me! And I trusted them too, but that's changed. I'm not going out of this room."

"I know you feel that way. I know that you know about us before you came here. And you probably know whay I'm talking about, don't you?" Tori nodded her head. "Then I don't have to explain."

"Well, I don't give a damn, either, to what you have to say to me!"

Tori stood up and started walking overto where Vincent was standing. When she was in front of him, Tori raised her hand and tried to slap him. Vincent predicted the assault and grabbed her wrist, and gazed down at her. He could feel her shaking with fear.

"Victoria, what I'm trying to tell you is that I don't want you to repeat the same mistake I made." Said Vincent.

"Don't you dare call me by my real name, unless you want me to call you 'Vinnie the Pooh'."

This earned Tori a death glare from Vincent's red eyes. If looks could kill, Tori would be biting the dust.

"All I'm telling you is to get out of this room. Unlike me, you will die from starvation."

"No I won't. I've been drinking water to prevent that from happening."

"Water alone won't keep you alive. It doesn' have anything to strengthen your body, only prevents you from getting thirsty. I can tell that your body's weak from lack of food and sunlight just by holding you wrist and looking at you. There are people that care about you."

Tori allowed her head to hang and her gaze to land on the floor. Vincent was right. There was nothing Tori could say in order to debate at him. He made his point as clear as day and no way forher to deny it to being so.

It was then that Tori remembered her family back home and how much they cared for her. All the times that Tori had spent with them, she now knew that they wouldn't have wanted her to do the things that she had been doing to herself for 3 days. At the memories of her family, tears started to well up in her eyes. Tori tried not to let them fall.

"_Don't cry, Tori. Only crybabies do that. You're not a crybaby._" Thought Tori.

That was what she was trying to tell herself. Usually, it was hard for her to ever cry and even the saddest things couldn't make her yield in doing so.

"_Cry, Tori._" Said a voice in Tori's head. "_You've held your tears of sadness and sorrow for too long. Let them go. Let them flow freely._"

And so Tori let her tears fall freely and she cried for the first time in 3 years. She leaned on Vincent and cried into his chest.

Even though his face was blank of emotiong, Tori knew that he must have been shocked about what she was doing. Tori felt Vincent's grip on her wrist loosen until it was free. 2 minutes later she then felt a pair of arms wrap themselves around her and into (what he attempted) a comforting hug. After Tori stopped crying she spoke.

"You're right." Whispered Tori. "There are people that care about me. And this whole time, I've been pushing them away."

Vincent didn't say anything so she continued.

"I'll come out of my room. I finally realized the pain of loneliness. Thank you, Vincent."

Vincent unwrapped his arms from around Tori and looked down at her as she looked up.

"You're welcome. You should get your rest." Stated Vincent.

Tori then walked back to her bed and got into the covers.

"Could I ask a question?" Asked Tori.

"What is it?"

"You're left arm. Is it mechanical or is it a gauntlet covering your real arm?"

"It's actually a gauntlet that covers my real arm." Answered Vincent. (AN: I believe that it's a gauntlet so don't complain. XD)

Tori expected Vincent to leave but to her dismay, he stayed where he was standing.

"Aren't you going to leave?" Asked Tori.

Vincent shook his head no.

"Why?"

"Another thing that I told Cloud and Tifa I would do." Stated Vincent.

"Don't you have anything better to do?"

"I could ask you the same questiong."

"_That burned. He's using my questions against me!_" Thought Tori.

"I'll take that as a no." Muttered Tori.

Vincent walked over to a corner that was in the room and leaned against it with his arms crossed. Tori laid down on her bed and pulled the covers over her head as if to hide.

"_And my mom thought that I was the most anti-social person in the world._" Thought Tori. "_Compared to Vincent, he's the king at being anti-social! He's beating me at my own game!_"

As Tori laid there, she started to feel uncomfortable with the idea of Vincent being in her room while she slept.

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ATE: Finally done! I hope you're not thinking that Vincent got the hots for Tori, because he doesn't. This happens to be a Cloud X OC fan fiction after all. I know that Vincent my seem out of character but I needed something to get the story to go along. Please Review!


	9. Forgiveness Before Breakfast And A Prank

Declaimer: Do I have to say it for every chapter of this fan fiction? Let me say it the last time and then you can guess it for the rest of the chapters! I don't own Final Fantasy of the characters from VII! I only own Tori! THE END!

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Chapter 9

Forgiveness Before Breakfast And A Prank

Tori woke up that morning to find that Vincent wasn't in her room anymore. She looked at her clock and saw that it was 8:15, 45 mintues before breakfast started. Tori got out of bed and started to get dressed for the day. She chose to wear a pair of pants and a short sleeved shirt.

After doing so, she opened the door for the first time in 4 days, walked into the hallway and went down the stairs. Upon reaching the bottom, Tori found that Cloud, Tifa, Marlene, and Denzel were waiting for her. She saw Vincent in the farthest corner of the room leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, being the loner that he was. (AN: No surprise there readers.)

"Hey...guys." Said Tori. "I'm sorry for pushing all of you away and for worrying you."

"It's alright. We've forgiven you for doing so." Stated Tifa.

It was then that Marlene and Denzel ran up to Tori and gave her a group hug, she hugged them back. Then Tifa nad Cloud came up and joined the hug as well, with Tori ending up being squished by her friends.

"Guys? As much as I don't want to ruin the moment, I'm started to feel like a sandwich."

It was then that they all let go of Tori.

"Next time, one person at a time."

It was with that that everyone laughed. Even Tori joined into the laughter. This time she meant to make them laugh. Just seeing them like this, it filled Tori's once sad heart with happiness. Everyone stopped laughing.

"So how about we have breakfast." Said Tifa. She then looked at Tori. "We all know that you should be hungry."

"Gee, Tifa. I knew you would direct that comment at me." Said Tori. "It doesn't matter. I'm not going to overeat a normal meal. I'll just have a regular, normal portion, please."

"Yay! Tori's going to eat!" Said Marlene and Denzel in unison. They then stated to hold hands and spin around Tori in a circles singing. "Tori's going to eeaaat! Tori's going to eeaaat!"

"You kids are too much." Stated Tori with a smile on her face.

Tori didn't notice that Cloud came up from behind her. She found out too late when her head was in his arm while the other was rubbing her head in a nuggie, which happened to hurt her scalp like crap.

"You're too much." Said Cloud.

"Ow, ow, ow! Do you have any idea how much that hurts?" Whined Tori.

"Yes. And it's punishment."

"You certainly know what punishment to use for every person's wrong doings." Said Tori sarcastically.

"I know."

"Gee, what a morning."

8 minutes later everyone was sitting at the table eating their breakfast. Vincent had left earlier 3 minutes ago. Tori took her time eating her food and savoring the taste as if she hadn't had food in her life and she ended up being the last one to finish eating.

"_I can't believe I gave up food for being locked up in my room._" Thought Tori.

When she was done Tori followed Marlene and Denzel to their rooms while Tifa started opening the bar.

"What do you kids want to do today?" Asked Tori.

"Let's play go fish." Said the kids.

"Okay. And while we're at it, let's play a prank on Cloud."

"What kind of prank?" Asked Denzel.

"We're _going_ to play go fish, but we're going to make it look like a game of poker by pretending to gamble a pile of toys."

Tori then explained that they weren't really going to gamble by make it look like it were a game of poker and she said that they would need a camera. Marlene and Denzel agreed to the idea and started getting out toys and split them between the three to use as their poker chips and everyone had 8 cards in their hands. (AN: I'm not sure how many cards you have in your hand when you play poker so don't ask me, I've never played poker and I never will.)

Tori had to admit Marlene and Denzel knew how the basics of poker worked, but she hoped they wouldn't gamble when they got older and if they did, she would blame herself. As they played Tori and the kids would place toys into the pile and do the stuff that people did in poker.

It was then that Tori heard Cloud's footsteps in the hallway approach the room and then set off the signal (which was waving hi to Marlene and Denzel) for them to sound out their game of poker. Tori got the camera ready.

"Okay kids, let's throw in the bet, shall we?"

It was then that she, Marlene and Denzel placed 3 toys each on the pile and continued. Cloud's footsteps were getting closer and closer. When Cloud saw what Tori and the kids were doing he stopped in front of Marlene and Denzel's doorway looking shocked.

"Tori!" Yelled Cloud.

Tori, Marlene and Denzel lookedup at Cloud and saw him boiling with and while a look of shock was on the blonde's face. Tori got out the camera and took a picture, but Cloud didn't notice the flash due to his anger and she quickly put it away.

"Are you teaching Marlene and Denzel how to play poker?!" Asked Cloud.

"Yeah, I am!" Said Tori, trying to look as innocent as she could.

"You know full weel that they shouldn't be gambling at their age!" Yelled Cloud, anger showing in his voice.

It was then that Tori, Marlene and Denzel started laughing, leaving Cloud to be confused. Tori took another picture, again, Cloud didn't notice.

"What's so funny? Teaching them to gamble isn't funny!"

"I wasn't really teaching them to l\play poker, you dumb blonde! I had this prank planned out and Marlene and Denzel agreed to do it. We sure got a laugh or two out of it! I'm so glad I took pictures! You're face was priceless!" Stated Tori.

"What do you mean pictures?"

Tori held up two pictures of Cloud being angry and confused.

"BLACKMAIL!" Said Tori, causing herself and the kids to laugh.

"Give me those pictures!" Said Cloud.

"No way! These are my souvenirs of today's joke!"

"You better give me those pictures! The last thing I need is to get blackmailed!"

"Who said I _was _going to blackmail you? I'm going to keep these and show Tifa."

"You better not shoe Tifa!" Yelled Cloud, anger in his voice again.

"Relax, Cloudy! I was only joking!"

"Don't call me Cloudy!"

"Well I think it suits you." Stated Tori. "Marlene and Denzel! Should we do 'it'?"

"Do what?"

"Yeah let's dp 'it'." Said Marlene.

"What are you going to do?" Asked Cloud.

"CHARGE!" Said Tori.

Tori and the kids tackled Cloud to the ground and started to overwhelm him.

"Now attack!" Said Tori. Tori and the kids started to tickle Cloud and he started laughing. "Tickle him as if your life depended on it!"

They tickled Cloud harder and were laughing themselves.

"Okay, stop! The last thing we need is for Cloud to die of suffocation while laughing his head off." Said Tori.

It was then that Tori, Marlene and Denzel stopped tickling Cloud and got off him. Cloud bent down and whispered something in the kids' ears that Tori couldn't hear. When he was done Cloud stood up and gave off a grin along with the kids. Tori's eyes widened and she started taking a few steps backwards.

"Cloud! Why are you looking at me like that with that idiotic grin on your face?" Asked Tori.

As Tori backed away Cloud and the kids took steps towards her, and she didn't notice that one of the beds were behind her. It was when she was right next to the bed that Cloud spoke.

"Attack!"

Cloud and the kids tackled Tori onto the bed and tickled her, causing her to laugh so hard that she could breathe. And to make matters worse, Cloud was on top of her on the bed while the kids were on the sides tickling Tori's sides.

"Marlene and Denzel, you traitors! You take his side over mine!" Said Tori between laughs.

They were having so much fun that they didn't notice that Tifa was in the doorway looking at Cloud and Tori shocked. Tori looked over at the door and saw Tifa there and it as easy to tell fi she was blushing because of her pale skin.

"Oh, hi Tifa." Said Tori nervously. Cloud looked at the door and upon seeing Tifa there he blushed too. "Tifa I swear this isn't what it looks like."

"Then what happened?" Asked Tifa.

"To make a long story short, me and the kids started tickling Cloud and then they take his side and started tickling me. Oh, and Cloud? Please get off me."

Cloud looked at Tori and he blushed again while getting off of Tori. Now she could breathe normally again ans sat up while swinging her legs over the side of the bed. Marlene and Denzel then came onto the bed and sate next to Tori.

"See these two?" Asked Tori, while pointing to the kids. "They're witnesses and they were involved in the little prank that seemed to have backfired on me. But we still had some fun, right kids?"

"Yeah! We sure did!" Said Marlene and Denzel in unison.

"Okay, Tori. I'm sorry for getting the wrong idea." Said Tifa.

"I need to go now." Said Cloud.

Cloud walked out the door and followed Tifa.

"FAMILY GUY!!!" Said Tori.

Tori knew Cloud heard that because she heard him almost trip in the hallway.

Tori had another prank (that she just got in her head) to pull on Cloud and it was the classical prank that involved a feather duster and a can of whipped cream and she was going to do it tonight. She knew that she couldn't have Marlene and Denzel involved in this (what she called) simple act of vandalism that she was going to pull off on Cloud because they were yound and they would need their sleep.

Tori then noticed that she liked playing pranks on Cloud for some reason. But tonight Cloud would probably remember this for the rest of his life.

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ATE: I know, I know! No need to tell me! Cloud was OOC in this chapter but it was to add humor to the story. There's going to be more of Cloud being OOC in the next chapter and it's not going to be what you expect. Please review!


	10. The Nighttime Prank

Chapter 10

The Nighttime Prank

That night everyone went to bed, all except Tori. Tori waited a little while after they fell asleep to make sure that everyone was dead asleep. She got out the feather duster and the can of whipped cream that she had smuggled while Tifa was busy tending the bar and quietly went into the hallway while tiptoeing to Cloud's room. True Tori had never been in Cloud's room, but that didn't stop her, now did it?

When she got into Cloud's room, Tori saw that he was sleeping peacefully without his shirt on. She tried to stop getting any ideas in her head about him and continued. The room was dark but she was able to see where everything was in the room. She saw that there was a couch near the bed that looked comfortable to lie on. Tori quietly made her way to Cloud's bedside.

Surprisingly, he had his hand out of the covers and was lying open on top of the bed. She shook the can of whipped cream and sprayed some on Cloud's hand. Tori then got out the feather duster (Don't worry, she made sure that all the dust was cleaned out before use) and started to move it across his face. This caused Cloud to use the hand that had whipped cream on it to hit his face to get rid of the irritating feeling on his face, ending up with whipped cream smeared everywhere on his face.

"_Yes! Revenge is oh so sweet!_" Thought Tori while spraying some whipped cream on her finger and licking it off. "_And whipped cream is sweet too!_"

It took all of Tori's will to keep from laughing. she then did this a second and third time. After the third time that this happened, Cloud started to shift and then opened his eyes. When he saw Tori, Cloud started to scream like a girl and cover himself with the covers of the bed, oblivious to the fact that he had whipped cream all over his face was comepletely hysterical.

"OH MY GOD, TORI! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?" Yelled Cloud in fright of the sight of Tori being in his room.

"Nothing, just wondering around aimlessly." Said Tori while hidding the can of whipped cream behind her back.

Cloud obviously saw what Tori did with her hands and looked at her suspiciously.

"What are you hiding behind yourback?"

"Nothing! Nothing but air!" Said Tori quickly and not to mention nervously.

"I know you have something behind your back and I want you to give it here."

"Nope!"

"You _do _have something behind you back!" Stated Cloud.

"Oh crap! Me and my big mouth!"

"Hand it over!" Demanded Cloud.

"No way am I giving the most precious thing in the world to you!" Complained Tori.

It was then that Cloud had to resort to getting out of his bed and having to reach his arms to what was in Tori's hands behind her back. When he finally got what was in her hands, Cloud pulled it up to eye level, only to find that it was the can of whipped cream and looked at Tori with anger clearly showing on his face. If this were an anime, Cloud would probably have that thing that looked like an 'X' on his forehead.

"Whipped...cream?" Asked Cloud through gritted teeth. "That's the most precious thing in the world?"

"Yep, and it helped me get to where I am now."

As much as she hated to admit it, Tori was actually enjoying looking at Cloud's bare chest.

"_No Tori! Get that thought out of your head right now!_" Thought Tori.

"I'd advise you not to look in the mirror." Stated Tori.

"And why shouldn't I do that?" Asked Cloud.

"Just don't!"

Cloud then got out of bed and walked into the bathroom to look in the mirror. When Tori saw that he had just looked in the mirror, she covered her ears quickly just as Cloud started to scream like a girl again.

"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO TO ME?" Yelled Cloud rushing out of the bathroom and standing in front of Tori.

"Let's see. Judging by the stuff smeared all over your face, I'd say that it was called whipped cream." Said Tori.

"Guess what you get, Tori?"

"What do I get?"

"You get a one-way ticket for getting bound by these ropes..." Cloud held up long pieces of rope. "...and your mouth bound by this handkerchief" And then held up a handkerchief.

"You're joking, right?" Asked Tori.

"Does it look like I'm joking?" Asked Cloud with a serious look on his face.

Tori's face paled and she started to back away slowly.

"Heh heh... Well...you see, Cloud...I just remembered that I left the light on in my room." Said Tori nervously.

Tori tried to run to the door but Cloud grabbed her arm and pulled her to him so she couldn't get away. Tori was blushing but was glad Cloud couldn't see it.

"You're not going anywhere!" Said Cloud.

It was with that that Cloud tied the ropes around Tori's arms and legs and as a safety precaution (to him) he also tied the ropes around her chest and arms so if she got her hands free she wouldn't untie her legs. He didn't tie the ropes too tight or too loose but enough so Tori wouldn't be able to get out. Cloud then tied the handkerchief around he mouth so she wouldn't be able to speak and he would be able to sleep.

After he was done, Cloud picked Tori up and carried her bridal style to the couch in his room and laid her there so she would be comfortable, unlike lying on the floor. At least Tori knew one thing was for sure: the couch was actually comfortable to lie on. He placed a blanket over her since she wouldn't be able to get it herself if she got cold becase she was bond from head to foot.

After he did so, Cloud went into the bathroom again to wash off the whipped cream all over his face. He then came out, went back to his bed and got back under the covers.

"Meff mes ming muff muy (Get this thing off me)!" Said Tori through her bond mouth.

It was then that Cloud looked at her.

"What did you say?" Asked Cloud, not understanding Tori due to her bound mouth.

"Mi shaid meff mes ming muff muy (I said get this thing off me)!"

"That's what I thought." Said Cloud before falling asleep.

"_Cloud you jackass! If I ever get out of these ropes I'll do something to you that I haven't even thought of yet. Who am I kidding? I better stop while I'm still ahead. I've already gotten myself into enough trouble to last for a lifetime. And besides, this is the worst that he's done to me so far. Imagine what horrible ideas he has left to use on me if I do another prank."_ Thought Tori.

Tori had no choice but try to relax, even though being bound by ropes isn't exactly comfortable like having pillows piled on top of you. But she was glad that Cloud was kind enough to put her on the couch and place a blanket over her. Tori now learned an important lesson: Never mess with Cloud.

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ATE: Again Cloud was OOC in this chapter. I had this chapter planned since the beginning of this story. Anyways, please review!


	11. Waking Up To A Surprise

ATE: Sorry it took me long to update the next chapter. Now the moment you've been waiting for, chapter 11 is ready to be read!

Declaimer: Do I really have to say it? Does it look like I own Final Fantasy or all it's characters? NO! Now leave me alone!

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Chapter 11

Waking Up To A Surprise

Tori woke up the next morning to find that she was in bed. Wait a minute! In BED?! Tori shot up into a sitting position and looked around wildly. She looked down at herself and saw that the ropes and handkerchief were gone. She spotted the couch and saw that there were ropes and a handkerchief sitting on its cushion.

"_How did I end up in Cloud's bed?_" Thought Tori. "_Did he take the ropes and handkerchief off me?_"

While Tori was thinking with a distant look on her face, she didn't notice that Cloud came into the room fully dressed in his normal attire. When he came in he just stared at Tori for a moment before speaking.

"Tori." Said Cloud.

It was then that Tori looked up to see Cloud standing to the left of the bed (which happened to be near the door). She stared at him and then blushed. When she knew that she was blushing, Tori got under the covers to hide. She knew how childish she was acting but she didn't care right now.

Tori heard Cloud's footsteps coming towards here and she soon felt the left side of the bed sink, indicating that he was sitting on that part of the bed. Without warning, Tori felt more weight on top of her. She poked her head from under the covers to find that Cloud was on top of her with his arms wrapped around her, causing her to blush even more. His face was only inches away from hers.

"Cloud, what are you doing?" Whispered Tori.

"I'm sorry about last night. Just let me hold you like this." Said Cloud quietly.

Tori didn't know what to do so she closed her eyes, thinking that this was just a dream. But when she opened them again, he was still on top of her holding her. Tori was so flustered that she didn't see that Cloud's head was coming closer to hers until he placed a kiss on her cheek. Cloud then brought his mouth up to her ear and started to whispered into it.

"I love you, Tori."

Tori could feel Cloud's warm breath against her neck and ear and felt bumps on her skin. She started to feel uncomfortable with the silence and decided to break it.

"But why me?" Asked Tori. "Why choose me over Tifa? She's more prettier than me."

Cloud didn't say anything to that.

"Is it because I'm Aerith's reincarnation? Is it because I look like her?"

"No." Whispered Cloud.

"Then why?"

"It's because you're pretty in a special way. So young and so innocent."

Tori then looked down at the bed. What Cloud was saying wasn't really true about her. She wasn't as innocent as he claimed her to be.

Back when she was little, she used to get out of control and hurt her little sister because of her anger issues.

Tori felt tears well up in her eyes and this time she let them fall from her face freely. Cloud saw this with a look of concern on his face and he used his hands to wipe the tears away.

"What's wrong?" Asked Cloud.

"I'm...not as innocent as you say I am." Whispered Tori. "I've done things in the past that I'm not proud of and would make you thing otherwise of my innocence."

"What do you mean by that?"

"When I was little...I used to hurt my little sister because I would get into a rage and go out of control. I would scratch her to the point that she would bleed and end up crying."

"But you're not like that anymore."

"I know. But I can't forgive myself for doing such a horrible thing. I don't deserve anyone's love. Not even yours."

"You're wrong about that." Said Cloud. "You do deserve love, including mine."

Tori didn't know what to say so she buried her head into the pillow of Cloud's bed. She then started to cry again and her cries were muffled. Cloud then sat up in the bed and looked at Tori. He extended his arms towards Tori's crying form and pulled her to him, holding her close. She then cried into his shoulder.

_I think...I want to be forgiven. More than anything._ That was one of the lines that Cloud said in Advent Children. Tori never forgot that it was one of the most important lines in the movies that Cloud said.

"_Aerith. I want to be forgiven. Please forgive me._" Thought Tori.

"_Isn't it time you started doing the forgiving, Victoria?_" Said Aerith's voice in her head.

Tori was shocked but didn't show it.

"_Yes, Aerith. You're right. It's time that I started forgiving myself instead of always asking other to forgive me._" Thought Tori.

Tori then wrapped her arms around Cloud's waist and hugged him. She then felt like she was safe in his embrace and wanted to stay like that. Tori felt Cloud's hand smoothing the back of her hair.

"Cloud, please promise me something?" Said Tori.

"Promise you what?"

"Promise me you won't leave me?"

Tori could tell that Cloud was thinking about what to say. It was then that she got her reply seconds later.

"I promise."

"Thank you."

Tori then felt Cloud hold her tightly to him. She could feel the warmth emitting from his body. She was happy that she could be loved by Cloud.

"Oh, how touching." Said a voice.

It was then that Tori and Cloud's head shot up and their eyes met with a sight that truly frightened them. Standing near the window was Sephiroth with a smirk on his face. Cloud let go of Tori and stood up from the bed with his sword in his hands.

"Sephiroth! What are you doing here?" Asked Cloud.

"Why, I thought it was quite obvious?" Stated Sephiroth. He then pointed at Tori. "I'm here for the girl."

Tori's eyes then widened with shock and she started to become scared.

"I won't let you take her!"

"But I think I will."

Sephiroth then got out the Masamune and in the blink of an eye, Tori saw that the hilt of the silvered haired man's sword hit Cloud's stomach. Cloud then fell to the floor unconscious.

"Cloud!" Cried Tori with tears flowing down her face.

Tori got out of the bed and tried to run over to Cloud's side, only to be pulled away from him by Sephiroth.

"Let me go!" Cried Tori, struggling to get free from the hold that the One Winged Angel had on her. "Cloud!"

"I will not release you. You have an important role to play in all this." Said Sephiroth.

It was then that Tori felt something hit her in her stomach and all went black.

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ATE: For all you Sephiroth lovers out there, you must be glad that Sephiroth has finally made a appearance in the story talking! I would love it if people would review this story by pressing the purple button in the lower left corner of the page. Please and thank you!


	12. Planning The Rescue

Declaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy, Zelda, or any of that other stuff.

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Chapter 12

Planning A Rescue

Cloud woke up to find that he was in his bed. When he tried to get into a sitting position, his hands darted to his stomach and he hissed in pain. It was then that Cloud felt hands gently push him back down onto the bed and he looked up to see that it was Tifa.

"Tifa..." Muttered Cloud.

"Take it easy, Cloud. You took a nasty blow to the stomach." Said Tifa.

"Tifa! Sephiroth was here! He took Tori!"

Tifa then looked at Cloud shocked.

"Sephiroth was here and took Tori?" Asked Tifa in disbelief.

"Yes. I have to go after him!"

Cloud then got out of bed, ignoring the pain in his stomach, and walked over to the door. When he was about to turn the door knob to leave, Tifa then spoke.

"Cloud! You can't leave like this! Not without a plan!" Cried Tifa. "I'll call our friends so they can help."

"Okay, Tifa. Call everyone and tell them to hurry."

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Tori woke up to find that she was bound by tree roots from her chest all the way down to her feet, suspened 5 or 6 feet off the ground. She started to panic and began to struggle to get free. But when she saw Sephiroth approaching her from out of nowhere, her fears got worse and she paled. He then stopped 3 feet in front of her and looked up.

"So you're awake now." Stated Sephiroth.

"That was so cliché." Said Tori, rolling her eyes.

"But it is true."

"Being bound by tree roots is NOT cool! Why couldn't you choose something more original, like, binding me with ropes, chain me to a wall, and my personal favorite, trap me inside a crystal like they do in the Zelda games?"

"Even though those ideas may sound good, I prefer this tactic."

"Well skrew you! You can go to hell!"

It was faster than a blink of an eye that Tori found Sephiroth in the air in front of her with the Masamune to her throat. She was more scared than anything she had been before now.

"How your tongue." Said Sephiroth coldly. "I would kill you, if only my mother said I could."

Sephiroth was amused by Tori's fear. Who wouldn't be scared if you had a freakishly long sword at your throat that could slice your head off easily?

"But don't worry. Your friends will be here soon and I will take a pleasure in ending their lives before your very eyes."

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All of the members of Avalance were sitting in chairs surrounding a table. Cloud was thinking, Tifa was talking, Barret was listening, Cid was listening, Yuffie was listening, and Vincent was being quiet and then listening.

"Guys. Tori has been kidnapped by Sephiroth!" Said Tifa. "We need a plan to save her. Any ideas?"

"How about we go in there and and get her back while we have a diversion?" Said Barret.

"Do you have any idea _where _Sephiroth is?" Asked Cid.

"I saw him heading to the ruins of Midgar." Said Vincent.

"So he's at Midgar." Said Cloud. "We'll fly Cid's airship there."

It was with that that everyong agreed and they were out the door.

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ATE: Done and finally DONE! Review please!


	13. White Materia

ATE: The wait is over! Chapter 13 is finally up, and there's some fluff at the end.

Declaimer: Don't own Final Fantasy or characters or that stuff. If I did, I would make a Final Fantasy VII-2 which would have Aerith being brought back to life so Cloud doesn't have to mourn for her.

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Chapter 13

White Materia

Everyone was aboard Cid's airship called the Shera. Everyone else was sitting in seats near the front, but Cloud chose to stand in a corner away from everyone. He had too much the thing about and it was most about Tori.

_Promise me you won't leave me?_

_I promise._

"_I promised you I wouldn't leave you... It's been a long time since I promised anything to anyone. The last time I promised something was to Zack and Aerith. I promised Zack I would live both our lives, and I promised Aerith that I would protect her, but both of those promises...I broke them. This time I'll make sure to keep your promise, Tori._" Thought Cloud. (AN: If I got this fact wrong, please tell me in a review.)

Tifa saw that Cloud was deep in thought and went over to him. She placed her hand on the side of Cloud's arm, causing him to look down at her.

"Cloud, what wrong? Are you worried about Tori?" Asked Tifa.

Cloud nodded.

"I promised Tori that I wouldn't leave here. I'm worried that Sephiroth might hurt her." Said Cloud.

"It's been a long time since you promised someone anything. What made you promise Tori something?"

"It is because I love her, Tifa. I hope you're not mad about that."

Tifa shook her head in answer.

"I'm not mad about that. I think it was meant to be."

"You really think that?"

"Yes. Remember Cloud, que sera sera." (AN: For those who don't know what that means, it means: whatever will be, will be.)

It was then that Cid spoke.

"Yo! We're here and ready for some action!" Yelled Cid so everyone could hear.

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Tori had been doing nothing but look at the ground thinking. What else would their be to do when you couldn't move? She was worried about her friends. Sure she hadn't met Barret or Yuffie, but she still considered them friends. She always wondered if Yuffie really _was _obsessed with materia.

Just then Tori heard something loud and her head shot up to see that it was a airship landing. It must had been Cloud and everyone else! Shen then remembered what Sephiroth told her.

_But don't worry. Your friends will be here soon and I will take a pleasure in ending their lives before your very eyes._

Tori started to fear for their lives. What if he actually killed them in front of her? What would she do?

"_Please don't die! I wouldn't be able to live with myself if something bad happened to them." _Thought Tori.

It was then that She saw Cloud and everyone running over towards her. It was when Cloud saw her that his eyes widened.

"Tori!" Yelled Cloud.

"Well, look who decided to come?" Said a voice.

(AN: If you have the FFVII: AC CD then play Advent: One-Winged Angel on disc 2, it really goes good with this part in my opinion)

Everyone, including Tori, looked up and saw Sephiroth with the Masamune in hand. She could see that he was smirking and fear filled her insides.

"Let her go, Sephiroth!"

"That is something I'm not going to do." Said Sephiroth. "If you want her that badly, you might as well fight."

It was then that everyone got out their weapons ands got ready to take on Sephiroth. Tori was forced to watch, due to the fact that she couldn't ignore the sounds of weapons clashing, guns shooting, and all that good stuff. The longer she watched, the more Tori feared that they would die. She knew they had materia, but what if something went wrong? Strangley, it looked like Cloud and the others were winning. Was Sephiroth holding back? If he was that would mean big trouble.

As it looked like Cloud was about to strike a critical blow, Sephiroth stabbed him in the stomach and the blade came out on the other side through his back! Tori's eyes widened at the sight and she started crying as she watched Cloud fall to the ground.

"CLOUD!" Cried Tori.

Tori started to struggle to get out of her bondage, but suddenly a white light appeared out of nowhere and blinded her. When it faded Tori found that she was laying on the ground and looked up from where she was and saw that the tree roots were destroyed. She then remembered Cloud and looked around wildly in search of him. She then spotted him to her left and she got up and ran as fast as she could over to him. When she got over to him, Tori kneeled down at his side, picked up his upper half and started to cradle him in her arms.

"Cloud! Cloud! Please wake up!" Cried Tori.

When he didn't do so, more tears came flowing down her face. Was he dead?

"Cloud, please wake up! You promised me that you wouldn't leave me! Please don't leave me!"

Tori then layed her head on Cloud's chest and started to cry into it. She could hear his heart beat slower and slower. He was dying in her hands. While Tori was crying, she didn't notice that her right hand was glowing white while she felt something in her hand. Tori pulled her right hand up to her eye level and saw what it was. In her hand was a sphere shaped stone about the size of a strawberry that was a white color with a little bit of green and it was glowing.

"_What's this?_" Thought Tori confused.

_Cure..._

Tori looked around for the voice that spoke to her but saw that everyone else was too busy fighting Sephiroth to speak to her.

_Cure..._

"What do you mean 'cure'?" Asked Tori, mostly to herself.

_In your hand is materia, but not just any ordinary materia, it is the white materia. Use it to restore Cloud's life._

"I have no clue what you said, but I'll try."

Tori then took the white materia in her hand, but soon realized that she didn't know how to use it.

"Um...quick question?"

_What is your question?_

"How do I use this?"

_Place it over Cloud's body and focus on trying to heal him. Imagine him healing in your mind's eyes._

"Okay."

Tori placed the materia over Cloud's body, closed her eyes, and started to focus on healing him. It felt strange. She felt warm all of a sudden but it soon faded. When she opened her eyes, Tori saw that Cloud was breathing. She then layed her head down on him again and this time his heart was beating normally.

"_He's alive! I saved him!_" Thought Tori.

"Cloud? Can you hear me?" Asked Tori.

It was then that Tori heard Cloud moan as if his muscles were soar. His eyes remained closed.

"Aerith?" Muttered Cloud.

It was then that Tori smiled.

"No. Try again."

Tori could tell that Cloud was searching his memories to distinguish.

"Tori?"

"Looks like we got ourselves a winner." Said Tori.

Cloud then opened his eyes slowly and when he saw Tori he smiled but it was only faint.

"Tori. How did you get free?" Asked Cloud.

"I not quite sure. There was this flash of white light and when it faded I found myself on the ground. I thought you were going to die, Cloud."

"I thought I was going to die." Said Cloud. "I heard your voice calling me, but it was faint. It was like I was fading."

Tori then held Cloud close to her like if she let go he would disappear.

"Please don't scare me like that again. I don't know what I'd do if you died."

"But I'm here now."

"Can you stand, Cloud?"

Tori then let go of Cloud and backed away some so he could have some room. Cloud started to stand up with no difficulty at all. Tori and Cloud looked over to everyone else and saw that Sephiroth was weakening.

"Everyone! Let's go!" Yelled Cloud.

Everyone heard this and Sephiroth saw that Tori was free but was too weak to do anything. Cloud and Tori along with everyone else ran to the airship and got on. After they flew off Tori decided to talk to Cloud and found him in one of the cabins sitting on the bed.

"Thanks for saving me, Cloud." Said Tori.

"It was nothing." Replied Cloud.

Cloud then saw that Tori had something glowing white in her right hand as raised an eyebrow.

"What that in your hand?"

"This is white materia. I found it in my hand and used it to cure you. why?"

"Because I think that's what Sephiroth was after. Keep it safe, and I'll keep you safe."

Cloud then pulled Tori into a hug and held her close like he did before she got kidnapped. Tori wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him back. They sat on the bed and stayed that way all the way home.

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ATE: See? What did I tell you? Please Review, may they be good or bad. : )


	14. Love Has Come

ATE: Guess what? Chapter 14 is finally up and ready to read. There's lots of fluff! You have been warned!

Declaimer: Do I have to type this for every stinking chapter of this story? Then let me say it so I don't, and I mean don't, have to say it again and again! I don't own Final Fantasy. The End!

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Chapter 14

Love Has Come

When the airship finally landed outside of Edge, Cloud found that Tori had fallen asleep some time ago in his arms. He picked her up bridal style and got outside the airship like everyone else did. Everyone said their goodbyes and left to go back home. Tifa, and Cloud, now holding a tired Tori, made their way back to the Seventh Heaven for some rest as well.

Tifa went to her room and went to sleep, leaving Cloud to carry Tori to her room (not that she was heavy or anything, she happened to be light). Climbing up the stairs, Cloud made his way to Tori's room.

When he got there, Cloud opened the door and walked into her room. It was dark and her bed wasn't that hard to spot out. He saw the clock as it read 12:45. He walked over to the bed, pulled the covers back, and laid Tori down on her bed. After doing so, Cloud started to walk over to the door to leave, only to stop abruptly, having a thought enter his mind.

"_What if Sephiroth comes back and decides to kidnap Tori again?_" Thought Cloud. "_I should stay here for tonight._"

Cloud turned around and walked back to the side of the bed.

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Tori woke up at 4:00 in the morning to find that she was in her bed. She found that she was still wearing her PJs from when she had gotten kidnapped by Sephirtoh. She wondered how she got there and then remembered something.

"_I must have fallen asleep on the way back and was brought here._" Thought Tori.

Tori then went to getting out of bed, only to find that she wasn't able to move as if she was being held back or something. Tori found she was able to move her legs and arms.

"_Okay, so I know I can move my legs and arms. But since when wasn't I able to get out of bed?" _Thought Tori.

She realized that she wasn't able to move her upper body and lookd down to find a pair of hands and arms wrapped around her waist.

"_Okay so I see a pair of arms._" Thought Tori. She then paled. "_I hope this isn't what I think it is._"

Tori traced the arms with her eyes and found that they were coming from behind her. She had to turn around to find something that shock her. Behind her was Cloud holding her close to him while he slept. To make matters worse, he didn't have his shirt on. Tori could feel her face heating up but was glad Cloud couldn't see due to him being asleep. This gave Tori some time to look at his facial features more closely.

His skin looked well and healthy, unlike her pale skin. He looked relaxed and peaceful while sleeping. She then looked at his lips. So badly had she wanted to kiss them ever since she saw Advent Children, and that was before she found out that he was real. She wondered what it would be like to actually kiss him. (AN: Haven't had a boyfriend before so I actually don't know what it's like. Same goes for the OC)

Tori turned around carefully so she wouldn't wake Cloud up and she faced him. She leaned in closer, her face only inches away from his, and her lips touched his. When she was about to pull away, Tori didn't expect Cloud to respond to her kiss by kissing her back. It took her by surprise when she felt his tongue enter her mouth and landing on top of hers. Tori felt Cloud full her closer to him, deepening it to a passionate one. She didn't know what to do, but soon decided to close her eyes and fall into the depts of the kiss.

She could feel the warmth coming from Cloud's body while they leaned on each other. Tori was lost in the kiss, what more could she say? She had finally had her first kiss and it was special.

When they broke apart, Tori opened her eyes only to meet Cloud's dark, sky blue eyes. She felt lost in his eyes and without realizing it, she then spoke the four words that she had kept secret for so long.

"I love you, Cloud." Whispered Tori.

Tori saw Cloud smile and pulled her into another passionate kiss.

"I love you too, Tori." Whispered Cloud while pulling away.

"You've kept your promise."

Cloud then had a sad look on his face upon remembering what happened yesterday and looked to the side.

"I know. But I almost broke it."

Tori then placed her hand on the side of Cloud's face and gently pulled it so he was facing her. He saw that there was a smile on her face.

"But you're still here with me. That's all that matters."

Tori laid her head on Cloud's chest and closed her eyes while he held her protectively. She could hear his heart beat inside his chest and fell back asleep to the sound of it beating.

Cloud gazed down at Tori, her words repeating in his head. He then smiled again.

"_You're right, Tori. I am still here with you. I'll continue to keep my promise and protect you. I don't know what I'd do if I lose you too._" Thought Cloud.

It was with that that Cloud feel back to sleep, knowing that Tori was in his arms safe.

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ATE: What do you think? Had this idea in my head for the longest. If you want to, I'm up for any ideas for the next chapter so write them in a review and I'll write...I mean type them down: )


	15. Meeting Zack

ATE: Time for the update.

Declaimer: You know the drill! I don't own FF! Now leave me alone, you meanies!

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Chapter 15

Meeting Zack

As Tori slept she had a dream.

She found herself back in the white place with the field of white and yellow lilies where she had last seen Aerith. Tori looked around in search of her but couldn't find her.

"Aerith?" Called Tori. "Where are you?"

Tori then felt arms wrap around neck and rest there. She could feel the breath of the person behind her on her neck and she tensed. Tori turned her head around to find a man behind her.

The man looked to be at the same age Cloud was and (strangly) the same height. He had black spiky hair with violet colored eyes. He wore a sleeveless sweater looking shirt and pants that were tucked into his leather boots that were a dark purple (AN: I'm not sure if it's dark purple or navy blue. If you know then tell me). On his shoulders were shoulder pads. He had this brown leather straps that went over his shoulders to hold his pants up and had black belts (AN: Not black belts as in 'karate'). on his hand were leather gloves.

Tori blushed upon seeing how close he was to her and wanted to get loose of him having his arms around her neck.

"Welcome back to this place filled with tons of lilies." Said the man.

"Excuse me, but could you remove your arms from around my neck?" Asked Tori. "I'm getting really uncomfortable and it's kind of disturbing."

It was then that the man removed his arms from around Tori's neck. After he did so, she turned around she was facing him.

"Who are you?"

"I'm Zack. And I know what you know that I know what you know about me."

Tori had to hold her head from having a headache.

"Are you trying to give me a headache or something?" Asked Tori.

"I wasn't tending on doing so."

"Well, you definately know how to start one."

Tori then remembered about Aerith. She could ask Zack where she was.

"Hey, Zack. Do you know where Aerith is?"

It was then that Zack gave Tori a sad smile. Why was he giving her a sad smile?

"She's gone."

Tori's eyes went wide.

"What do you mean gone?"

"The last time you saw her, didn't you notice that a pale green light going up your arm when she was holding it?"

Tori then thought back to the last time she came here and saw Aerith. That was the day that she told Tori that she was her reincarnation. She finally remembered the pale green light that had flowed up her arm.

"Yes. I remember that. What does that have to do with Aerith missing?"

Zack then placed his hand on Tori's shoulder and sighed with his eyes closed.

"It has a lot to do with Aerith missing. She's no longer here in the Promised Land." Zack opened his eyes. "She's inside of you now, Tor."

Tori then rolled her eyes.

"Gee, you sound like my dad when you called me that." (AN: Yes my dad calls me Tor)

"I know."

"Are you trying to be funny?"

"Maybe."

"And here I thought you were supposed to be the serious type of person who took things seriously. Did you drink coffee this morning?"

"No. I don't need to drink anything in this place since I'm DEAD."

"Opps. I forgot that you are DEAD."

"Basically, you were dead once."

Tori then flinched at the word 'basically'.

"Why did you have to say my B word?"

"What B word?

Tori gulped.

"Basically." (AN: I actually do say 'basically' a lot at school and when I say it my friends will say "stop saying 'basically.' And I do call it my B word."

"Well, basically, because I can."

"AH! You said it again!" Yell Tori like the 'Knights Who Say Ni'.

"Basically, basically, basically, basically, BASICALLY!"

Tori had to cover her ears but it didn't help much and got a huge headache.

"That's it! I officially dub thee 'Really Hyper and Annoying'!"

It was then that Zack made himself looked hurt.

"That was mean."

"Cry me a river, Z-Man."

It was then that Zack had Tori's head in his arm while his fist was rubbing her head with a nuggie.

"How about you cry the river?"

"AH! The revenge of the nuggie has returned! It's a living nightmare all over again! I just had deja vu!"

"Oh so you just had deja vu, eh?"

"What do you thing I said?"

"I thought you said, 'I need to go poo'."

"That was so messed up."

"Are you crying a river yet?"

"No. But I can tell you that this really hurts like crap! Can you please stop?"

"No."

It was then that Tori had to resort to her secret weapon. She pointed her index finger.

"POKE!" Said Tori while she poked Zack in the side.

It was then that Zack let go of Tori and flew into the air about 3 feet while yelling. Tori was glad to be free from his grip and started to walk as far away from Zack as she could. It was then that Tori felt something hit her in the back sending her to the ground with something heavy on top of her back. She looked back and saw that it was Zack.

"Did you tackle me?"

"Yep!"

"Dude! Get off me!" Yelled Tori trying to get up. "No offense, but you're heavy, and your weight is crushing me!"

"Oh, so you're saying I'm fat?"

"I never said that!"

"You said I was heavy!"

"That's doesn't mean you're fat, you idiot! It means that you're older than me and since you're older than me that means that you weigh more than me. Do the math!"

"Then how much do you weigh?"

Tori then glared at Zack.

"I'm not going to answer that question. You NEVER, and I mean never, ask a woman how much she weighs. Common sense!"

"Then who old are you?"

"16, you dimwit."

"Just so you know, I happened to by 18."

"Then how do you look like you're 23 even though you act your shoe size?"

"I resent that!"

"It's the truth. And unless you have Peter Pan Syndrome, then you're just immature."

"I'm not immature!" Yelled Zack.

"Oh, you're not immature? If you're mature enough, get off me!"

"Not without revenge."

Tori then paled.

"Why do I have an idea that I'm not going to like this?" Asked Tori.

"Because that's why it's called REVENGE!"

Zack then started to poke Tori in her sides and she started to laugh. She laughed so hard that she couldn't breathe and she had tears going down her face.

"Please...please stop! I'm going...to die if you keep this up!"

"I'm a WINNER!"

"Well, guess what? I'm crying from all that laughing. Are you happy now?"

"Yep!"

"I guess I'm going to wake up soon, in my bed, that happens to be in my room, in the Seventh Heaven, that's in Edge."

"Then wake up already."

"I hope I don't see you again." Muttered Tori.

"Hey! I heard that!" Said Zack, as Tori saw him disappear, indicating that she was waking up.

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ATE: For all you Zack lovers out there reading this story, be happy I put Zack in her being OOC. Review, review, review people!


	16. Cloud's Change Of Heart

ATE: Next chapter for the readers who love this story so far!

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Chapter 16

Cloud's Change Of Heart

Tori woke up to find that Cloud was still asleep beside her with his arms around her waist. She looked at the clock in her room and freaked out! It was 12:55! How could she have slept in for that long?

"_Well, I least I broke my record of sleeping in. Usually, waking up at 8:30 has been the longest I've slept in. _" Thought Tori.

Tori felt the weight of the bed shift and turned back around to find Cloud awake, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. Watching this made her smile.

"Look who decided to wake up?" Said Tori.

Cloud stopped rubbing his eyes and looked at Tori.

"Look who's talking." Stated Cloud.

Tori just shook her head with a smile on her face.

"_Same old Cloud._" Thought Tori.

It was then that Cloud pulled Tori close to him and their lips met in a passionate kiss. Funny how her heart would just melt with his kiss. Tori wasn't trying to pull away this time. 3 minutes later, she felt Cloud tense up and pulled away from her. Tori pulled away and saw that Cloud was hissing in pain while clutching his chest. Her eyes widened and the sight of watching Cloud in pain reminded her when his geostigma was acting up in Advent Children.

"Cloud!" Cried Tori worried. "What's wrong?"

Tori looked at Cloud's eyes and watched with fright as they changed from his sky blue eyes with normal pupils to green with pupils that looked like that of a cat's eyes. When he stopped with whatever was happening to him, he had his head facing down. Tori got out of the bed and backed away in shock at what happened. It was then that Cloud spoke-- but it wasn't his voice at all! It was replaced with Sephiroth's!

"Good to see you."

"Sephiroth!" Gasped Tori. "How did you do this?"

Tori saw Cloud (who was now possessed by Sephiroth) smirk in amusement at the fear that had a grasp on her emotions.

"Quite simple. Cloud let his guard down, I possessed him. And now I'm able to get to you without having to worry."

The whole scene pauses and Tori looks at the author.

"This is the part where I started running away, is it?" Asked Tori.

The author nods and then presses the start button on the remote. The scene unpauses.

"Three word: Time - To - Run!" Said Tori.

Tori then bolted out of the room and ran as fast as she could to get out of the building. She passes Tifa, who was at the counter wiping it clean and she spoke.

"Tori! Where are you going?" Asked Tifa.

"No time to explain Tifa! I'm running from Sephiroth!"

Tori then ran out the door and just a few seconds later, Tifa saw Cloud running out the door without his shirt on, and she started to blush from embarrassment.

"She's not running from Sephiroth! She running from Cloud!" Said Tifa happily with a wide grin on her face. "They must really like each other."

Tori ran down alleyways to outrun Sephiroth (AN: Just call him Sephiroth since he's possessing Cloud and to avoid confusion from the reader). Looking back was a big mistake for her because she saw that he was gaining on her.

"_I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die!_" Thought Tori.

It was then that Tori ended up at a dead end of the alleyway and stood up against the wall in fright as she saw Sephiroth getting closer and closer to her. She closed her eyes tightly, thinking this was the end of her and her life. She started to cry from being scared and couldn't take it anymore.

"Someone help me!" Cried Tori.

It was then that she felt arms wrap around her and then Tori felt her feet leave the ground and felt a breeze of wind hitting her face. She opened her eyes and saw that she was up in the air and looked down to see that she was going over the alley's dead end. When she landed, Tori looked up at the person who saved her and was shocked to see who it was. It was Zack!

"Zack!" Said Tori.

Zack looked down at Tori and smiled.

"The one and only." Stated Zack.

"But, weren't you dead?"

"Was dead. But I was brought back for now to protect you until Sephiroth stops possessing Cloud."

"Won't people recognize you if they see you?"

"No. Besides you and me, other people won't see my appearance the way you do. They will only see a different person, that's all. But you're going to have to call me Z for now since people will recognize Zack."

"Okay Z."

"The Great Swordsman Z at your serves."

"Okay, I get the point. Can we go now?"

"Yes."

"Then let's go!"

It was with that that Tori and Zack.

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ATE: Hahahahahahaha! I felt evil today and decided to have a cliff hanger! Hahahahahahhaha! Looks around and see the readers giving off stares that look like they thing she's crazy Sorry about that. Anyway Review please, I'm desperate here and I don't feel loved.


	17. Cloud's Fight For Freedom: Part I

Declaimer:

ATE, Cloud, and Tifa are in the room with Sephiroth tied to a chair that happens to be nailed to the floor.

Cloud: I'm not going to say the Declaimer and I'm not letting ATE say it either!

Tifa: I'm not saying it!

ATE, Cloud, and Tifa look over at Sephiroth who is trying to struggle out of his bonds. ATE walks over to Sephiroth and stands in front of him with a grin on her face.

ATE: Let's have Sephiroth say the Declaimer then.

Sephiroth: No! I don't want to say it! You can't make me!

ATE: Oh, but I can. (Get's out a pair of scissor and snips them in a threatening way) If you don't say it, I'll cut all of that pretty silver hair of your's off your head and make you baled!

Sephiroth: NO! Anything but my beautiful silver hair!

ATE: Then say the Delcaimer!

Sephiroth: (Gulps loudly) ATE doesn't own Final Fantasy and that junk! Don't cut my hair!

Cloud: (Wrapping his arm around ATE's shoulder) You should make Sephiroth say the Declaimer more often, ATE.

ATE: Maybe I should.

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Chapter 17

Cloud's Fight For Freedom: Part I

Tori and Zack were making their way to somewhere safe. It was decided between them that they should go to the old church that Aerith used to take care of flowers. It only took them about 2 hour to get there but got their eventually. Zack was the one that went up to the huge doors and opened them to gain entrance and Tori followed him inside. When they were inside, Tori was amazed at how pretty the church was.

The church benches were lined up while the ones at the front were either flipped over or in a weird angle. Past the front benches was a pond of water with what remained of the rest of the flowers that didn't get ruined near the edge. In the right corner of the church near the pond was a chest, a lamp, and what seemed to be a bedroll that Tori recognized from Advent Children that Cloud had brought there when he was staying in the church due to his geostigma.

Tori looked over at the pond again and saw that a semi-transparent field of flowers covered it with a image of Aerith tending the flowers. She watched as the Cetra stood up, looking in Tori's direction with a smile on her face.

"Yo, Tor!" Said Zack's voice.

Upon hearing his voice, Tori turned her gaze away from the image before her to Zack and looked at him.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

Tori looked back over at the pond again and saw that the image of Aerith and the field of flowers was gone.

"What are you staring at?"

"Nothing." Lied Tori.

Zack raised an eyebrow at this statement but decided to leave it alone.

"You might as well get some rest."

Tori looked at Zack with a confused look clearly on her face.

"Don't you need rest too?"

"No. I don't need rest."

Tori walked over to the pond and knelt down near on of the flowers that surrounded the edge of the water. True that they have been there for a long time, but Tori was surprised that the flowers were in top shape and well taken care of.

"_Cloud must had been taken care of these flowers secretly._" Thought Tori. "_That's the only way they could have lasted this long._"

At the thought of Cloud, Tori felt a tear go down her face. Cloud. How he had made a huge impact on her life since she first met him. She felt scared and alone without him by her side. If she were to get attacked by anything that wanted to hurt her, she would have no way to defend herself and no weapon to protect herself with.

While Tori was deep thought, she didn't notice that Zack had knelt down beside her and saw that she was crying silently.

"What's wrong?" Asked Zack.

Tori was snapped out of her thoughts and looked at Zack.

"What?"

"Why are you crying?"

"I was just reminded of home and how much I miss my family. I haven't seen them in a while and wonder how they're doing." Lied Tori.

"It's good that you're thinking about others, but you should think about your safety."

"You're right." Said Tori. "My safety's more important at the moment."

"Go ahead and get some rest. I'll keep watch."

"Okay."

Tori walked over to the bedroll and got in with the covers drawn up to keep her warm.

"_What was with that image of Aerith tending to the flowers that I saw a while ago? Did I imagine it or was it something from Aerith's past._" Thought Tori.

It was with that that Tori fell asleep.

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While Tori and Zack were in the church, they were oblivious to the fact that Sephiroth (still in possession of Cloud's body) knew where they were and was standing on top of one of the ruined buildings out of sight of the two.

"I'll let them have their fun in letting them think that they're safe from me." Said Sephiroth to himself.

It was then that Sephiroth doubled over and seemed to be in pain.

"_I won't...let you hurt them!_" Said Cloud's voice coming out of his own mouth.

It was obvious that Sephiroth and Cloud were both struggling for control of the blonde's body. Sephiroth wasn't expecting Cloud to fight to regain control over himself.

"I wasn't expecting you to fight back." Hissed Sephiroth.

It was then that the scene went to that of the dark void of Cloud's mine where Sephiroth was facing Cloud with his Buster Sword in hand. The silvered haired man got out the Masamune and got in a fighting stance.

"_Get out of my body, Sephiroth!_" Yelled Cloud.

Cloud charged at Sephiroth to attack him but he blocked the blonde's attack with his sword.

"Go back to sleeping inside your mind, Cloud." Said Sephiroth.

"_This body doesn't belong to you!_"

Swords continued to clash against each other. Cloud and Sephiroth were fighting for control.

"Be a good boy and stay out of my way."

Sephiroth then hit Cloud in the stomach, knocking the blonde unconscious.

The scene them switched back to Cloud's body and Sephiroth opened his eyes while smirking.

"That should keep him out of the way for now." Said Sephiroth.

It was with that that Sephiroth stood where he was as he watched the old church throughout the whole night.

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ATE: Chapter done. Cloud struggles for control for his body from Sephiroth. It's starting to get hard for me to think of some ideas.

I'm deciding of giving Tori a weapon that she'll get in a later chapter. Readers are to vote between a sword or staff for Tori's weapon in a review.

Thank you and please review!


	18. Cloud's Fight For Freedom: Part II

Declaimer:

Cloud, Tifa, and ATE are back in the room with Sephiroth still bond to the chair. ATE walks over to Sephiroth and snips the scissors threatening.

ATE: Say the Declaimer, or it's off with your hair

Sephiroth: (sweating) ATE DOESN'T OWN FF AND THAT JUNK! MOTHER STOP THIS CRAZY WOMAN FROM CUTTING MY BEAUTIFUL SILVER HAIR!!!

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Chapter 18

Cloud's Fight For Freedom: Part II

As Tori slept in the bedroll inside the old church, she heard the doors open loudly. At first she thought that it was Zack opening the doors for some reason, but soon she heard loud footsteps walking on the old floor coming in her direction. Just then, Tori heard another pair of footsteps in what sounded like the person running. It was when she heard the tone of Zack's voice that she knew something was wrong.

"Sephiroth!" Cried Zack's voice.

Tori eyes shot open and she bolted into a sitting position. When she looked over in the direction that she heard Zack's voice, she saw him with his sword out and saw Cloud-- I mean Sephiroth with his sword, both men in fighting poses.

Tori got out of the bedroll and started running over to Zack.

"Tori! Stay back!" Said Zack.

Tori stopped where she was and stood there. Sephiroth now knew of her presence since he looked over in her direction. It took all of Tori's will to not shutter at the way Sephiroth's eyes look at her through Cloud's body.

"I see that the girl is here." Stated Sephiroth.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious!" Said Tori, who then stuck up her middle finger at Sephiroth.

Zack looked at Tori and had a serious look on his face.

"It's not safe for you to be near us! You'll get hurt!"

"I know that, but please take the fight outside. I don't want this place to get damaged any further."

Zack then turn to look at Sephiroth again.

"Let's take this fight outside."

"Fine with me. I'll be waiting outside."

Sephiroth then walked outside the old church. Zack looked at Tori.

"Stay in here until I come for you."

"Okay."

Zack then made his way outside and went through the doors and outside. Tori didn't know what to do to pass the time so she went over to the pond and sat down there. She looked at the flowers and saw how beautiful they were in the moonlight. 10 minutes passed and Zack hadn't come back, causing Tori started to get worried.

"_What if he's hurt really badly? I hope Zack's okay._" Thought Tori.

Just then Tori saw an image of outside with Sephiroth and Zack fighting. Zack looked tired and worn out and she watched as he took critical blows from Sephiroth.

Tori got up and ran for the doors. When she opened them, she saw that the image she just saw was playing right in front of her. Both men had serious looking wounds but Zack had it worse.

Just then Sephiroth plunged his sword into Zack and Tori's eyes went wide. Sephiroth killed Zack!

"Zack!" Cried Tori.

Tori ran up to his dying figure and knelt down beside him. Zack saw that she was beside him and turned his head weakly to look at her.

"I told you to stay inside..." Said Zack.

"Don't die."

"Did you forget that I was dead to begin with? I'm just going back to the Promised Land, that's all."

It was with that that Zack died in front of her. It was the first time in her life that she had actually witness a person dying in front of her. She felt so helpless and powerless as she watched him die. His body started to fade in a pale green light, indicating that he was going back to the Lifestream.

Tori looked up from the spot that Zack had once laid dead at and at the possessed Cloud. She was now alone and no one was around to protect her from Sephiroth now that Zack was gone. She saw that he was smirking at wake he accomplished.

"Now that that nuisance is out of the way, I can finally get to you with having to worry about one thing." Said Sephiroth.

Tori watched as Sephiroth approached her slowly. He drew the Masamune out and got it ready in his hand. Tori's eyes widened at the sight of the 7 foot long sword and how it glistened in the moonlight.

"I'm going to make you suffer slowly before I use you even further in my plan."

"Cloud!" Said Tori in a scared voice.

"He can't hear you. I made sure of that."

Tori then started to back away from Sephiroth. She backed up against a wall and she knew that there was no way to escape as she saw Sephiroth get closer and closer to her. When he was about 5 feet away from her, Sephiroth swung his sword, slashing Tori on her left arm. Tori cried out in pain as she felt the cold steel of the Masamune cut through her skin and tears started going down her face. Sephiroth then slashed her chest, legs and her right cheek and more cries of pain came out of Tori's mouth. It was obvious that he was enjoying making her suffer because he had a smile on his face. Sephiroth then slashed her remaining arm, making a serious wound.

"CLOUD!" Yelled Tori in pain with her eyes close as she felt the stinking of the air touching her wound.

As Sephiroth make his way to slasing her side something unexpected happened. Tori, not feeling the slash of his sword against her skin opened her eyes and saw that Cloud's eyes were changing from Sephiroth's green eyes to his own blue eyes and back again as the silvered haired man and the blonde fought for control again. Her eyes widened as she watched this struggle.

"I thought you were unconscious! I made sure of it!" Said Sephiroth through clentched teeth.

"_I not going to let you hurt Tori!_" Said Cloud's voice.

"Too bad I've already wounded her."

"_Get out of my body! I won't let you continue with what you're doing!_"

Tori saw how the two men's voices came out of the same person and how it just confused her. Was Cloud still struggling for control?

"Cloud..." Whispered Tori.

Tori struggled to stand up and she started to walk over to Cloud who was still struggling for control. The two men were unaware of her presence as she approuched. When she got up to him, Tori wrapped her arms around Cloud and held onto him tightly, ignoring the pain that her wounds were causing her and burying her face into his chest.

"Cloud! You're still in there, right? Please come back! I need you!" Said Tori.

Tears started to come down her face again. Tori felt Cloud struggling against Sephiroth again. He was shaking and it seemed that he wasn't going to make it. Cloud was trying to get back in control as the conflict between him and Sephiroth continued in his mind. It was by hearing Tori's voice that Cloud seemed to be able to keep fighting. His arm then loosen its grip on the Masamune and it fell to the ground clattering and then disappeared. Tori then felt Cloud's arms wrap around her and she looked up to see that his normal blue eyes were back, indicating that he was back for good.

(AN: Play Cloud Smiles if you had FFVII AC CD)

"Cloud!" Said Tori as she held on tighter to him.

"I'm sorry, Tori." Said Cloud. "I'm sorry for hurting you."

Tori looked up at Cloud as she smiled with tears of joy.

"Don't blame yourselve. It wasn't you who hurt me. If there's anyone to blame, then blame Sephiroth, not yourselve. We need to get back to the church."

"It's kind of hard for me to move, you know?"

"Don't worry, Cloud. I'll help you get there."

It was then that Cloud's eyes showed concern within them.

"But your hurt too. You might not make it."

"You never know until you try."

Tori then dragged Cloud towards the church with his arm over her shoulder. True he was heavy, but she didn't care at the moment. All that mattered was getting to the church. Tori was glad that she left the doors opened when she got there with Cloud.

She dragged him over to one of the benches near the pond and helped him lay there. Tori went over to the bedroll and was glad that there were two blankets in it and brought them over to where Cloud laid. She went back over to him and placed one of the blankets over him and wrapped the last one around herself.

"Thanks Tori." Said Cloud.

Tori looked up from the ground and looked at Cloud.

"You're welcome. Please get some rest, Cloud."

"You need rest too."

"How about I sing you a song."

"Okay."

Tori then started to think of a song to sing. She then thought of the song called 'The Promised Land' from the Advent Children CD (AN: Don't own the song, no matter how much I like it). She had memorized the lyrics of the song from the booklet that came from the CD. Tori then opened her mouth to sing.

"_Cur in gremio haeremus?_

_Cur poenam cordi parvo damus?_

_Stella nobis non concessit,_

_Non concessit_

_Stella nobis non concessit,_

_Non concessit_

_Venarum pulsus in terram fluens_

_Parvus, parvus pulsus_

_Cor mortem ducens_

_Vita mollis in stellam redeunt_

_Animam sacrificare necess est?_

_Cur in gremio haeremus?_

_Cur veniam petimus?_

_In terram fatali?"_

Tori finished singing the song and saw that Cloud was looking at her with amazement.

"I never knew you could sing so good." Said Cloud.

"I don't sing often so I kind of surprise my friends and family when they heard me sing." Said Tori. She then changed her tone to a whisper. "Go to sleep now, Cloud. I'll be here, I promise."

Cloud nodded and the closed his eyes falling asleep. It wasn't long after that Tori fell asleep with her head on Cloud's chest.

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ATE: Chapter's done!

Now it's time to tell what the votes are so far for what weapon Tori should have. Here are the results:

Sword: 3

Staff: 0

Looks like the swords winning. Keep sending in the votes along with your reviews readers!


	19. Calling For Help

ATE: Finished Chapter 19. I'm starting to get writer's block.

Declaimer: I'm not going to bother saying it even though it's clear that I don't own it!

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Chapter 19

Calling For Help

During that night inside the old church Cloud woke up and found Tori still wrapped up in the blanket, asleep with her head on his chest. He smiled at this. Looking at the position she was in, he knew that she would be stiff and sore tomorrow if she were to sleep all night that way.

Ignoring the protests his wounds, Cloud carefully got up without waking Tori up and went over to the bed mat of his bedroll and brought it over, laying it next to the bench he had been resting on. After laying the bed mat down, he lifted her up and laid her on the mat so she could sleep comfortably and went back to the bench to laid on top of it.

Cloud seemed to have an idea since he got out his cellphone, started dialing a number, and placed the phone to his ear, waiting for someone to answer. He soon got an answer.

"Hey, Tifa... I'm at the old church with Tori... We both got injured... Can you come here and help us? Thanks."

It was with that that Cloud snapped his phone shut.

"Looks like we won't be staying here long." Said Cloud quietly. He looked at Tori. "We'll be getting out of here soon."

10 minutes passed and Cloud saw Tifa enter the old church.

"Cloud?" Called Tifa.

"Over here Tifa."

Tifa walked over to where she heard Cloud's voice and found him laying on top of the bench with Tori laying on the ground on the bedroll.

"Are you two okay?" Asked Tifa going over to Tori and kneelting down beside her.

"As I told you, we're both injured."

"I'll help you two get out of here and into the car."

"Carry Tori out. I'll follow you two."

Tifa nodded. She picked Tori up and started to drag her outside with Cloud following close behind them. Outwide was a truck and Tifa had both Cloud and Tori sit in the back of the car since it had more room. Tifa then started the truck and went back to the Seventh Heaven.

When they got back, Tifa carried Tori in with Cloud going in afterwards and followed the girls to Tori's room. Tifa laid Tori on her bed and told Cloud to wait with her while she went to get a first aid kit. Cloud sat on the bed beside Tori.

Only a few minutes later did Tifa come back with the kit. She got out the non-stinking cut cleaner and started tending to Tori first, wrapping her in bandages and laying her down on the bed again so she could sleep. After she was done Tifa went to Cloud and did the same think she had done to Tori. She was about to tell Cloud that he should go to his room but he stopped her short.

"I'm going to stay here with Tori. I want us to recover together."

"You go do that then."

With that Tifa left the room.

Cloud carefully got under the covers and fell asleep next to Tori.

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ATE: Now wasn't that a good, short chapter? Time for the results of the votes!

Sword: 4

Staff: 0

Sword's still winning. Send in your votes with your reviews and if you'll be kind enough to send me any ideas for the next chapter due to my writer's block. Please and Thank you!


	20. A Time To Recover

ATE: FINALLY! I finally finished chapter 20. Sorry for taking so long to update the chapter, due to my writer's block. Read On!

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Chapter 20

A Time To Recover: Part I

Tori woke up to feeling the sunlight on her face and slowly opened her eyes, trying to adjust to the light. When her eyes started to get used to the light, Tori sat up and looked around to find she was back in her room again.

"_I'm back in my room._" Thought Tori.

Tori then felt a throbbing pain in her right arm and looked at it to find that it was wrapped up in bandages and her PJs were torn a little.

"_That's right. I got injured by Sephiroth's sword._" Tori then rememembered Cloud. "_Cloud! I can't believe I forgot about him! He's hurt too._"

Tori then looked at the door, but as she did, she saw a lump (or more like a big lump) on her covers. She looked to her left and saw that Cloud was sleeping peacefully beside her. Tori smiled in relief.

"_He's alright._" Thought Tori.

She then saw that he had bandages wrapped around his injuries too. When she saw that his chest was still bare Tori looked away from him while blushing.

"_I forgot that Cloud didn't have a shirt on since he was possessed by Sephiroth. Mr. Seph didn't have the mind to put a stupid shirt on him when he was controlling him._"

Tori was too busy thinking to notice that Cloud woke up and was sitting up, looking at her. She gasp quietly when she felt his arms around her and pulling her down so she was laying on her back on top of him. Tori looked at Cloud and saw that he was awake and was starring at her with his blue eyes.

"Cloud. You know we're both injured." Said Tori.

"I know. But it doesn't mean I can't hold you, does it?" Stated Cloud.

Tori shook her head.

"You got a point."

"Where? On my head?"

"Yeah, it's one of your spikes you call hair...of course it's not on your head!"

The two then laughed.

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Outside the room Marlene and Denzel came out of their room to see what all that laughing was about and went to Tori room, only to stop when they saw a sign that said:

_No kids under the age of 15 are allowed inside_

_Tifa_

Marlene looked at Denzel and he looked at her.

"This stinks." Said Denzel.

"Why would Tifa write a sign telling us to stay out of Tori's room?" Asked Marlene.

"I dunno, but I'm going to have a peek."

Denzel quietly opened the door a crack, but quickly shut it because of what he saw. He turned to Marlene and she saw him blushing.

"What's wrong, Denzel?"

"I can see why Tifa put that sign up on Tori's door."

"Why? Was it something you saw inside that wasn't for us to see?"

Denzel nodded his head.

"Y-yeah. You don't want to see what's going on in there."

"Let's get breakfast." Said Marlene, trying to change the subject.

"Okay."

It was with that that the kids forgot what they saw and went downstairs to have breakfast.

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Tori and Cloud stopped laughing and looked at each other. He brought his head closer to Tori's and they kissed. It was passionate and the two enjoyed it. Tori moaned as she felt Cloud's tongue enter her mouth and played with her's. A minute later they broke apart and gasped for air. After doing so, Cloud held Tori close and they stayed like that until they heard the door knock.

"Hey, I made breakfast for you guys. I'm coming in to give it to you two." Said Tifa.

Tori and Cloud looked at each other and quickly got to their side of the bed so Tifa wouldn't know what they were doing and made it look like they just woke up. Tifa came into the room with a tray of food for them.

"Ugh...the light...it's so bright..." Said Tori, faking a groan.

"I hope you're not dying, Tori." Said Cloud.

"I just hope you mean the sun." Said Tifa.

Tifa laid the tray on the nightstand and left the room. When they knew that she was out of earshot Tori and Cloud laughed.

"What was that back there?" Asked Cloud.

"It's called faking waking up."

"Well, you had me convinced."

"Let's just eat. I'm starving and I've forgotten the last time I ate anything."

"Let's see...that happened to be 4 days ago."

"Man. If I were to keep going on without food like that, I'll would be dead."

"You actually did went without food like that for 2 days. But as you can see, you broke your record by 2."

"Cloud! You're making me more hungry by talking about that!"

"Okay, let's eat now."

It was with that they got the plates that were on the tray and ate their food.

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ATE: Done reading? Thank ya!

Now it's time to show the results so far for what weapon Tori should have.

Sword: 6

Staff: 0

Swords winning again! Remember you can vote for the weapon that the OC will use. It's a chance that won't last long so send in those votes in a review and please write a reason to your vote! Thank ya!


	21. Go Back To Your Own Room

ATE: Hey readers! Sorry it took so long to update. I'm just glad I got some ideas today for this chapter. Enjoy!

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Chapter 21

Go Back To Your Own Room

After they had eaten their food, it was then that Tori remembered about the white materia. She then turned to Cloud who was just finishing his food.

"Cloud, I think you should go back to your own room." She said.

Cloud turned to her and gave her a look of confusion.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"I think you well enough to walk back."

"But..."

Tori could tell that Cloud was trying to think of an excuse to stay.

"...I got this boo boo on my arm. Can you kiss it?"

"_Oh boy. I have an idea what he really wants._" Thought Tori. "I got something better than a kiss."

"You do? What is it?"

"Just wait here."

Tori went to her drawer and opened it. When she closed it she had the white materia in her hand.

"This is better."

It was then that Tori could see a look on Cloud's face that she guess would have said 'Damn it.'

"You just remembered that now?"

"Yeah. Glad I remembered it now."

Tori went over to Cloud and healed him. She then did the same to herself.

"Okay, now go back to your own room, Cloud."

"But I don't wanna."

"Please. You need to."

Tori then spotted Cloud's shirt along with that half coat think and his huge sword. She then pointed to them.

"And besides, don't you have packages to deliver?"

Cloud looked a little confused.

"Hello? 'Strife Delivery Serves. You name it, we deliver it'. Does that ring a bell or two?"

It was then that Cloud realized what she was saying.

"You're right. How could I forget about the delivery serves?"

"Well get a move on! I also need to get dressed." Tori picked out some random clothes that she was going to wear. "You can get your shirt and other stuff on out here. I'm going to change in the bathroom. Don't even think about peeking."

It was with that that she went into the bathroom and closed the door. Oblivious to Cloud, she locked the door incase he tried to peek. Tori came out of the bathroom when she was done and saw that Cloud wasn't there anymore.

"_Probably went to do those deliveries._" She thought.

She then left her room and went to where the kids were to do her job.

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ATE: I know the chapter's short but I have writer's block and trust me it's not a good thing. Last time for people to vote on the OC weapon.

So far the results are...

Sword: 7

Staff: 0

As I said before, this is the last time all of you can vote. Send in your votes with your reviews. Thank you!


	22. Tori's New Weapon

ATE: To all readers reading this, I'm sorry for taking so long to update this chapter. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Declaimer:

Cloud, Tori, ATE, and Denzel are sitting around the table talking.

ATE: The Declaimer just came back. And right when it was gone for good. Here it goes. (clears throat) I don't own Final Fantasy.

Tori: She only own me.

Cloud: She doesn't own Harry Potter

Denzel: And she doesn't own Twinkies. (sad look on face) I wish I had a twinky right now.

ATE: Denzel, I think you need to lay off the twinkies. (looks at audiance) Anyways on with the story.

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Chapter 22

Tori's New Weapon

Cloud's POV

I went to do the deliveries that have been piling up in the office. I have so many things to deliver, that I'm starting to be thankful that Tori had reminded me of my job as 'Delivery Boy'. You wouldn't have believed how many packages I had to deliver. I wasn't sure how many, but it seemed that there were hundreds of them, maybe even more than that. Anyway, as you know I'm delivering packages. This may take awhile...

_6 hours later..._

"Sorry it took so long for me to deliver this to you." I said to the old lady that had been waiting for her package.

"It is quite alright. I didn't mind the wait. In fact, I could have even waited a year." She said.

I then left her and got on my motorcycle to leave. That was the last package that needed to be delivered. As I rode back to the Seventh Heaven, I thought that I should get a weapon for Tori to defend herself with. I made a stop at the weapon store and went inside.

Inside I saw weapons of all sorts on shelves and behind the counter. I looked around, looking for the right weapon for Tori. She would probably want something easy to wield. I'll start from there. I then saw the right one for her, took it off the shelve, and went to the counter.

"May I help you?" Asked the owner of the shop.

"Yes, I would like to buy this..."

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Tori was with Marlene and Denzel at the time, trying to decide what to do now. It was then that Marlene spoke.

"We could play 'hide and seek'." She said.

"Why didn't I think of that?" Tori said. "Who wants to be 'it'?"

Marlene and Denzel didn't speak.

"I guess I'll be it. Start hiding while I count to 100."

Tori went into a corner and started count to 100, while the kids went to find hiding places to hide in. After she was done counting, Tori when to find the two kids around the place.

"_Let's see... If I was a kid...well I was a kid once...where would I hide?_" She thought.

Tori then thought of a few places to hide, like inside the closet, under the bed, and behind a couch. She decided to start with all the closets and beds in each room. She started with the room closest to her, which was her room.

Inside she looked under her bed, but no one was there. She went to look in the closet, and found Marlene.

"You know what this means, right?" Asked Tori.

"It means you found me." Said Marlene.

"Okay help me find Denzel then."

The two girls then started to look around the place, but couldn't find Denzel. There was one place that they didn't look and that was the kitchen. Tori went into the kitchen and looked around.

She then thought of the pantry and open the door to find Denzel inside with a box of twinkies in his hands.

"Denzel. You know no snackes before dinner. It ruins your appetite." Said Tori.

"I know but...but...BUT THEY'RE TWINKIES!" Said Denzel.

"Calm down. But there's a problem about eating twinkies."

"There is?"

"Yes. And they make you fat if you eat a lot of them."

"I'll never eat a twinky again!"

It was with that that Denzel abandon the box of twinkies and came with Tori.

When she came out of the kitchen, Cloud had just came back after delivering all of the packages. What Tori noticed was an object wrapped up in a cloth that he was holding. He came over to her.

"I have something for you." Said Cloud while handing the object to Tori.

Tori unwrapped the cloth and what she saw surprised her. In her hands was a sword. It looked like the Sword of Griffindor from 'Harry Potter' (AN: I couldn't think of a sword to create so I just copied. I don't own Harry Potter.)

"A...a sword?" She said.

Cloud nodded yes to her.

"Thank you, Cloud."

"I thought that you might wanted a weapon to defend yourself with. I'll teach you how to use it."

"Great! I'm looking forward to it."

Tori then went to her room. When she entered, she placed her new sword on her bed.

"_I've always wanted to learn how to use a sword. I finally get to know how_." Thought Tori.

Tori looked at the clock and saw that it was almost time for dinner. She exited her room and went downstairs.

At the table, Marlene and Denzel were tell Tifa about the game of hide and seek.

"Tori was 'it' and we went to hide. I hid in her closet." Said Marlene.

"And I hid in the pantry." Said Denzel.

"Speaking about the pantry, I caught Denzel trying to eat a twinky." Said Tori.

Everyone laughed at hearing this. This was going to be something to remember.

After having dinner, Tori went back to her room to get ready for bed. Once in her PJs, she got uder her covers and fell asleep.

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ATE: Finally done. As I said, when it comes to imagination, making up weapons is something I lack. Please Review. 


	23. Morning Mischief

ATE: chapter 23 is up. enjoy.

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Chapter 23

Morning Mischief

Tori woke up and got out of bed. She then remembered that Cloud was going to teach her how to use a sword today. She got dressed, picked up her sword and made her way to the door. Tori noticed that a note was on the door and decided to read it.

_Training starts as soon as you wake up. Get something to eat and wait for me outside. _

_Cloud_

"_Well, at least he left a note._" Thought Tori.

Tori placed her hand on the doorknob and turned it. Just when she opened the door and took a step out at the same time, Tori felt a lot of cold water fall on her, screaming as it drenched her as it fell.

"What the heck?" Said Tori.

Tori looked up and saw that there was a bucket hanging from the ceiling by string, tipped over with some droplets of water dripping from it.

"Who did this?"

Tori went back inside and examined the note from Cloud further. She turned it around and saw that there was another note on it.

_By the way, I thought you would need a quick shower before going downstairs._

"_Cloud! I can't believe that he pulled a prank on me. I thought that we were done doing pranks on each other. Now I have to change into something else, and then I'll get him back._" Thought Tori.

Tori closed her door and changed into different clothes. While leaving the room, she took the bucket and string. She filled up the bucket with cold water and went over to Cloud's door. When she was there she but her ear to the door and listen to see if he was inside. Sure enough, Tori heard the sound of a shower running inside, indicating that he was inside.

Tori set to work on tying one end of the string to the doorknob and hanging the bucket over the door while the other end was attached to the bottom of it. After she was done Tori went downstair to get breakfast.

At the table were Tifa, Marlene, and Denzel eating their food. Tori got herself a plate and filled it with todays breakfast and sat in one of the chairs at the table. After she took a third bite of her food, the sound of Cloud screaming (not like a girl) could be heard.

"Aw...music to my ears..." Said Tori.

"What do you mean, Tori?" Asked Tifa.

"This morning Cloud pulled a prank on me with a bucket full of cold water hanging over my door, which poured all over me."

Cloud came into the room, wet from the water with water droplets dripiping from his hair, and he didn't look happy at all for having cold water poured on him. He got his food and came to the table.

"What happened to you, Cloud?" Asked Tori, pretending to act innocent.

"I think you know what happened." Answered Cloud flatly.

"I do?" Asked Tori. She then acted like she just remembered. "Oh, yeah. Now I remember. 'I thought you would need a quick shower before going downstairs.'"

"So you read what was on the back of the note?"

"I sure did. I simply returned the favor."

Everyone at the table burst out laughing, even Cloud.

"Now there is no way you can get me back." Stated Tori.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that." Said Cloud.

Tori got up to put her plate in the sink and was about to sit down when Cloud came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her. He was still wet from the water and it started to stain her clothes, causing her to get cold.

"Ah! Cold, cold, cold! Freezing cold!" Cried Tori.

To make things worse, Cloud lowered his head to the point that some of his wet hair got in Tori's face. She tried to get out of his hold, but he refused to let her go.

"Cold water! Extremely cold water! Let me go!"

Cloud then started to drag Tori out the door with him so he could started teaching her how to us a sword. As he did so, she struggled to get free. But it was too late when they stepped through the door.

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ATE: I had this idea in my head for a while and it seems it turned out better than I thought. Please Review. 


	24. Cloud's Training Camp: Part 1

ATE: Here's chapter 24. And for Bookfreakster2damax, If you are reading this, I give my permission to you to write you're story, but know that anything that you use that's mine (OC, plot, ect.), you give me credit. Anyway enjoy.

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Chapter 24

Cloud's Training Camp: Part 1

As Cloud dragged Tori outside, the morning air felt cold to her since she had just gotten wet by him again. He then stopped moving and released her. Tori shivered from the absences of Cloud's warmth.

"Are you cold?" Asked Cloud.

"How about you? Are you cold?" Tori questioned back.

"I asked you first."

"Well, I asked you second."

"Answer the question."

"Fine! Yes, I am cold." Answered Tori. "Aren't you cold?"

"No."

"How can you not be cold when I'm freezing?"

"You could say that it's not that cold to me. And besides, it'll get warmer later." Said Cloud. "You should get your sword out."

Tori pulled her sword out and held it in her right hand. She was surprised that it was lighter than she thought it would be.

"I can see that you know how to hold it the right way in your hand." Cloud drew his sword out. "Now let's see if you know how to swing it as well as you hold it. Come and attack me."

Tori just looked at Cloud with wide eyes.

"You're joking, right?" Asked Tori.

Cloud shook his head.

"But what if I hurt you?"

"You won't. I know you're not that experienced enough to do that yet."

"Okay, I'll try."

Tori then ran over to Cloud and swung her sword at him as he blocked with his own sword.

"It seems that you're able to swing well." Stated Cloud. "Now I want you to block my attacks with your sword."

Tori gulp as she had held her sword in both hand with a death grip on the handle.

Cloud ran up and swung his sword at Tori, who on reaction held her sword up to block. He push forward with his sword, causing her sword to be forced closer to herself. Tori tried to push on Cloud's sword, but was having difficulty since he was much stronger than her. She felt sweat going down her forehead as she struggled to overpower Cloud. Eventually, he overpowered Tori, causing her to fall to the ground, laying on her back. Before she could get up, she found that the tip of Cloud's sword was pointed to her neck.

"You got the concept on blocking down, but didn't have enough strength to hold back." He said.

Cloud removed the tip of his sword away from Tori's neck, put his weapon away and held out his hand to her. She took it and he helped her up.

"What's next?" Asked Tori.

"Next we'll work on you to keep your guard up at all time and to expect being attacked from behind. But we're not doing it here."

"We aren't?"

"We're doing it somewhere else."

Cloud then lead Tori to his motorcycle and rode to somewhere.

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ATE: Please Review 


	25. Cloud's Training Camp: Part 2

ATE: Hey guys! Sorry for the wait. Today happens to be August 19. And you know what that means...

Tori: It's Cloud's Birthday today. (Runs up to Cloud and hugs him) Happy Birthday Cloud!

Cloud: (Looks down at Tori with confused face) Today's my birthday?

Tifa: Cloud! Don't tell me you forgot that today's your birthday? How could you forget your own birthday?

Cloud: Probably from all those deliveries and thinking about Sephiroth all the time.

ATE: I don't own Final Fantasy VII (I wish I could own Cloud though). If I did, I wouldn't be writing this fan fiction and instead make this into a game.

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Chapter 25

Cloud's Training Camp: Part 2

As they rode, Tori was holding onto Cloud tightly, but not tight enough to cause him pain. It was only her second time on his motorcycle and she wasn't completely use to it yet. Soon they came to a big (but not too big) building that seemed to have been used to store up stuff inside. Cloud got off his vehicle followed by Tori.

Tori was gazing at the building until something cover her eyes. She felt what was covering her eyes and felt cloth, it was a blindfold.

"Why did you blindfold me?" Asked Tori.

"Because I'm going to lead you into the building and to a certain location inside." Answered Cloud.

Cloud grabbed Tori's hand and lead her inside. She was about to take off the blindfold, but he stopped her.

"I'll tell you when to take it off."

"Okay."

The place seemed big to Tori since she couldn't see it. Soon Cloud let go of her hand and she heard him walking away. About a minute or two, Tori saw through her blindfold that it got darker, indicating that the lights were turned off.

"You can take off the blindfold." Cloud said loud enough for her to hear from wherever he was.

Tori started to take off her blindfold and saw that the place was almost pitch black (since there aren't any windows in the place) and that she could barely see the shapes of boxes stack on top of ach other, seeming to make the area look like a maze. She resisted the urge to call Cloud since she didn't know where he was much less see.

"_That's right. This must be what Cloud was talking about. I'll have to keep my guard up and expect any attacks from behind. He certainly picked the perfect place._" Thought Tori.

Drawing her sword, Tori took a few step forward, trying to be as quiet as possible, so Cloud wouldn't know where she was. A few times she would turn around to see if anything was behind her, but she never saw anything.

As she continued to take quiet steps, Tori felt like there was something behind her. She swiftly turned around hold up her sword, only to hear the sound of clashing metal. Tori looked up and saw Cloud's sword (along with himself) against hers. She could barely see Cloud's tall figure in the dark.

As soon as the swords were lowered Tori bolted in a random direction to get away from Cloud. Soon she stopped to rest a bit, sitting on the ground for a minute. As soon as she got up, Tori felt cold metal lightly touching her neck and saw that it was his sword. Cloud's lips brushed up against her ear.

"Give up?" He whispered.

Cloud's warm breath tickled her ear and caused her to shiver. Tori dropped her sword to the ground, showing that she had given up. She felt him remove his sword from her neck. She turned around, but that only caused her to be surprised by what happened next.

Cloud's lips were locked with Tori's as he pulled her close to him. His tongue pressed against her lips, wanting entrance. She opened her mouth and his tongue slipped in to meet hers, deepening the kiss into a passionate one.

When it ended, they pulled away. Even thought she could see him, Tori knew that Cloud was looking at her.

"We got to go." Said Cloud.

"Yeah. You're right."

Tori knelt on the ground feeling for her sword. She eventually found it and stood up with it. She the felt Cloud's hand holding hers.

"Follow me."

They started to walk through the place without bumping into stuff.

"You can see in the dark?" Tori asked.

"You could say that."

They soon got to the door and went through it. Once outside, Tori had to shield her eyes with her hand because it was bright, since her eyes were so used to the dark building that they were in. She looked at Cloud and saw that the light didn't seem to effect him, but on closer expection you could tell that he was squinting. He then placed his sunglasses on his face.

"Cheater." Tori muttered.

"What was that?" Asked Cloud.

"I said 'it's neat here'."

"Alright." He then started making his way towards his motorcycle with Tori following. "But I heard what you really said."

"What?!"

"You called me a cheater."

"But it's true."

"How about we buy a drink."

Tori's eyes widen.

"How about no?!" Said Tori.

"And why not?"

"Did you forget what happened last time we went to a bar? We were with Cid in a bar and an hour later I was on my second glass of water while you two were on your eighth mug of beer. You totally last it and I had to drag you outside so we could go back home. Remember?"

"It's kind of a fuzz but I can clearly remember accidently telling you the truth."

Tori then looked down at the ground upon remembering what happened at that time. About learning the truth and locking herself inside her room for three day long without any food.

Cloud saw this and pulled Tori close to him and into a comforting hug.

"I'm sorry for bringing that up." Said Cloud. "Please forgive me."

Tori hugged him back.

"Forgiven!" Tori said happily.

They both burst out laughing.

"Let's go home."

"Okay."

The two then got on Fenrir (AN: I'm tired of saying 'Cloud's motorcycle' all the time. I think 'Fenrir' is the name of it. If it isn't tell me otherwise) and went back home.

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ATE: Sorry that the chapter is really short. Please Review and tell me what you think. 


	26. A Surprise

ATE: Finally finished this chapter! My fingers hurt. I made this chapter long for everyone and I took me 6 hours to finish this.

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Chapter 26

A Surprise

Tori and Cloud had gotten back home to dinner and all that stuff. They were currently going to bed for sleep. Tori was actually glad to go to sleep because she was just exhausted from today's training.

Tori remembered what happened in that building they were in that was dark and how she was kissed by Cloud. She remembered asking him if he could see in the dark, and he said 'you could say that' to her.

"_I wonder how he could see in the dark._" Thought Tori. She then mentally hit herself. "_I can't believe I forgot. He had Mako injected into him. It enhances abilities._"

She then fell asleep.

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Tori found herself back in the back in that field of flowers again.

"Wait a minute! If I'm here in my sleep, that would mean..."

But Tori wasn't able to finish her sentence as she got tackled to the ground by someone from behind.

"Ow..."

Tori tried her best to turn her head to see who had tackled her and found Zack on top of her.

"Zack!"

"Sounds like someone missed me." He said.

Zack got off of Tori and stood up, holding out a hand for her to take. Tori took his hand and he helped her up. Before he knew it, she had hugged Zack.

"I missed you!" Tori said.

"I was only gone for 7 chapters."

"Zack?"

"What?"

"Why am I hugging you?"

"I have no idea."

They then pulled apart from each other, but not without being embarrassed. Once that was over with, Zack turned to Tori with a serious look on his face.

"Okay. I has a big question. What am I to you?" Asked Zack.

Tori then thought about it and soon camp up with something.

"I think of you as an older brother. A really annoying brother." Answered Tori.

Zack seemed to fall to the ground anime style.

"What? That's how you think of me as?"

"Yeah. But you made it fun. Heck, you're like the older brother I never had."

"You mean, you don't have any brothers?"

"If I did, I wouldn't be calling you 'the brother I never had'."

"Well, at least I got my answer. I guess I'm glad to be like an older brother to you." Said Zack.

"I guess I'll be going now."

"Bye."

Everything then started to fade away as Tori woke up.

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Tori woke up to see that it was morning. She got dressed in long pants and a sleeveless shirt. After she was done, Tori went downstair for breakfast.

As Tori came down the stair, she heard Cloud and Tifa talking to each other about something, but she could barely make out what they were saying. Upon getting down the last step, Tifa and Cloud turned to see her and stopped talking.

"Don't worry Cloud, I got it covered." Said Tifa before leaving.

Tori then came up to Cloud.

"What were you two talking about?" Asked Tori.

"Nothing." Answered Cloud.

Tori was suspicious of Cloud, but she chose not to push him into telling her. Tori went to get herself some breakfast and ate at the table silently.

Afterwards, she went upstair with Marlene and Denzel to play with them like she always did. They decided that they wanted to draw, so they got out the paper and crayons and all of them started to draw their own picture. Even Tori chose to draw too. At first Tori didn't know what to draw, but soon had an idea of what to draw. She chose to draw some lilies and then went to start.

When they were done drawing, it was lunch time and the three went downstairs to get some food. All three made sandwiches and ate. After finishing, Tori, Marlene, and Denzel went back upstairs.

"What do you two want to do now?" Asked Tori.

"Let's play 52 Pick Up!" Said Denzel.

"Okay."

Tori went and got the cards out and took them out of the box. She threw them all in the air and all of them were scattered across the floor.

"The one that gets the most cards wins."

All three of them started to pick up the cards as quickly as they could. This lasted for a long time and soon there was on card left. Tori, Marlene, and Denzel dove in to get it. The person who got it was Denzel.

"I win!" Said Denzel.

"But first we need to see how many cards everyone has." Said Tori.

Everyone started to count how many card they had.

"10." Said Tori.

"15" Said Marlene.

"27" Said Denzel.

"Denzel wins."

Just then Tifa came into the room.

"Tori, I think you should go to your room now." Said Tifa.

"Why?" Asked Tori.

"I'll tell you once we get there."

Tori and Tifa left the room and made their way to Tori's room. Soon they were outside of her room.

"Okay. On your bed is a dress that I want you to wear. Once you're down you'll have to go downstairs." Said Tifa. "Got that?"

"Yes." Said Tori.

"Good. Now go inside and get ready."

With that Tifa left by going downstairs.

Tori opened her door and went inside while closing the door behind her. She looked towards her bed and saw a really nice dress.

The dress was blue and the skirt looked like it would come down to her knees. For the sleeves, it was a slightly transparent fabric that was a light blue and (like the skirt) looked to stop between her elbow and wrist.

"_I can't believe I'm actually going to wear that._" Thought Tori.

Tori then changed from her current clothes to the blue dress. She went to look in the mirror and was surprised to see how nice it looked on her.

Tori then left her room and went downstairs to find Cloud and Tifa waiting for her.

"You looked nice in that dress." Stated Cloud.

Tori couldn't help but blush at what Cloud said.

"T-thank..." She said.

It was then that Tori saw that Tifa had a blindfold and watched as she came up to her. Before she knew it, her eyes were covered up.

"I have to be blindfolded again?"

"Yes." Said Tifa.

Tori felt Cloud holding her hand.

"Follow me."

Cloud started moving, causing Tori to get pulled with him. Though she couldn't see, she knew they were walking through the door. Cloud continued to lead Tori until they stopped. Tori reached her hand up and her fingers met the surface of something cold. She then figured out that it was Fenrir. Tori felt Cloud's hands guide her onto Fenrir and soon she was sitting on the seat. Cloud then got on and sat in front of her.

"Hold onto me." Said Cloud.

Tori did so by wrapping her arms around Cloud's waist. She soon heard the sound of the engine starting and they started moving. Tori felt the wind hitting her face and started to wonder where they were going.

"Where are we going?" Asked Tori.

"You'll see."

As Cloud continued to drive, Tori wondered where they were going. After a few minutes, they stopped and she felt Cloud getting off Fenrir and he helped her get off. Taking her hand once more, he guided her in a direction and they walked.

Behind the blindfold Tori saw lights and had an idea that they were going into a building. The closer they got, the brighter it became. Soon Tori noticed that they were walking on what seemed like a carpet or something like that.

Tori could hear Cloud talking to someone but wasn't really paying attention and instead trying to figure out where they were. Then she felt him leading her somewhere else and then stopped again.

"Sit down here." Said Cloud.

Tori did so and sat down to find that she was sitting in a chair.

"Hello. May I ask what you would like to drink?" Asked voice.

"I'll take a beer." Said Cloud.

"_I'm doomed!_" Thought Tori.

"And you, miss?"

"Oh, I'll take water." Said Tori.

"Okay. I'll be back with your order."

Tori heard the waiter walk away.

"I know where we are. We're in a restaurant."

"You figured it out."

"Well, I couldn't figure it out at first, but I finally did." Said Tori. "But why are we here?"

"We're really on a date." Said Cloud.

Tori then laughed quietly.

"Well, talk about 'blind date'. I'm surprised that you did this. Don't get me wrong, because it's not like I'm mad or anything. And besides, so far I'm enjoying it."

"I'm glad you're enjoying it. Tifa helped me plan this tonight."

"So that's what you two were talking about."

Tori then heard the waiter coming back.

"Here's your beer, sir. And here's your water, miss." Said the waiter. "What would you like to eat?"

Tori then heard Cloud whispering something to the waiter but wasn't able to make out what it was.

"Okay. Thank you."

The waiter walked away again.

"Don't worry. I ordered for both of us." Said Cloud.

"Can I take the blindfold off?" Asked Tori. She wanted to see what this place looked like.

"You can take it off."

Tori then started to untie the blindfold. Once it was off, she opened her eye, only to close them again since it was bright. Tori blinked a few times to adjust to the lighting of the room until she was used to it.

Tori saw that she was sitting at a table for two and that Cloud was sitting across from her. In front of her was her glass of water. She the took a sip.

"Glad to have that blindfold off?" Asked Cloud.

"Yeah."

Tori and Cloud talk for what seemed like a few minutes, even thought it was only 20 minutes. The waiter then came back with two plates of chicken parmesan (AN: I couldn't think of what kind of food they should eat. And chicken parmesan is good). Each plate was placed in front of them.

"Enjoy you meal." And with that the waiter left.

"Chicken parmesan? I didn't know that you ordered that."

"I did. I hope it isn't something you don't like to eat now, is it?"

"You don't have to worry. I happen to like chicken parmesan. My mom sometimes cooked it."

"That's good."

The two ate their meal and finished it (though Tori finished last). The waiter (again) came back with the bill and Cloud paid for the meal. Tori and Cloud left the restaurant and got back on Fenrir again. As they rode, Tori saw that they passed by home and to somewhere else.

"_Where are we going now?_" Thought Tori.

Tori's question was soon answered as they came up to a park. They soon got off and Cloud lead her to a spot on the grass and they sat down. He then looked at her.

"You didn't think that it was only the dinner that was going to happen, right?" Asked Cloud.

"I did. You're full of surprises."

"I know."

Cloud then pulled Tori close to him and held her. She laid her head on his chest.

"You know...maybe our worlds aren't so different from each other as I thought they were." Said Tori.

Cloud looked down at Tori.

"What do you mean?" Asked Cloud.

"What I mean to say is...there are some differences betweeen this world and the one I came from. Some differences are that we don't use swords anymore and instead use guns, we don't have materia or magic, we don't have Mako, and that we don't have machines like Fenrir and airships. But otherwise, they're almost the same."

"I can see what you mean. Do you sometimes wish you could go back?"

"Sometimes. But not entirely. Once or twice I wondered if I'd be able to return. Sometimes I miss my family, but I'm happy here. I'm glad I actually got to meet you and everyone else here. And I'm happy to be with you, Cloud."

Tori brought her face up to Cloud's and both of their lips met in a passionate kissed. After a while they pulled away.

"Why do you make it sound like this will be the last time we see each other, let alone having a moment like this?" Asked Cloud.

"I don't know. For some reason, I feel like it's going to be until after a long time."

"Don't worry. It might not be last time. If it is, then know this. Even though we might be pulled away from each other, we will always meet again."

Their lips then met again in another kiss. As she kissed Tori felt something wet slide down her face and knew that it was a tear. They then pulled away and the two both stood up.

"Let's go home." Said Cloud.

Tori nodded.

Tori and Cloud got on Fenrir and went back home.

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ATE: What do you think? I've been thinking about making a sequal to this fan fic once I finish this. Please Review. 


	27. Saying Goodbye

ATE: Done with updating this chapter. This is the last chapter of this story and after this I'll start on the sequal.

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Chapter 27

Saying Goodbye

Tori and Cloud got back home and both went to sleep (in their own separate beds) But as Tori slept, she kept tossing and turning in her bed.

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_In her dream she saw Sephiroth standing on top of the ruins of Midgar. He had a smirk on his face._

_"Looking confidante, are we?" Tori accidently said._

_"That is non of your concern."_

_"Ooh. So I can talk to you. Big deal!"_

_"Just be glad you're not physically in my presence at the moment, Cetra. Because if you were I would have killed you before you even spoke to me."_

_"Not physically in you presence? What do you mean?"_

_"You mean to tell me that you did this without even know what you were doing? I'm not surprise."_

_"And you're not surprised, because...?"_

_"Because you're the reincarnation of that Cetra wench I killed 2 years ago."_

_"But that didn't answer my first question. What did you mean when you said that I was in presence but wasn't physical?"_

_"What I mean is that though you may be sleeping now, you are actually here talking to me while you sleep. And I happen to really be here in the ruins of Midgar."_

_"Hey, would it be okay if I brought my friends over tomorrow to fight. Because I really want to kill you."_

_"Sure. Go ahead. I might as well kill you all anyway."_

_"What a way to rain on my parade." She said. "And besides, that geostigma idea was really retarded."_

_"So you may think. I have long ago known how you knew that."_

_"It's not like you've been stalking me now is it?"_

_"Actually, I've been stalking you at school before Cloud brought you here."_

_Tori then gasped._

_"I can't believe it! Sephiroth is a stalker!"_

_"Leave before I decide to kill you in your sleep."_

_"...Okay..."_

_With that Tori started to wake up._

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Tori woke up in the morning breathing hard. She had seen exactly where Sephiroth was. She quickly got dressed in the clothes she wore when she first got here, grabbed her sword, and rushed downstair. She needed to tell everyone where Sephiroth was. It might be their chance to kill him.

When Tori got downstairs she saw that Cloud, Tifa, Marlene, and Denzel staring at her.

"Why were you...?" But Tifa was interupted by Tori.

"I know where Sephiroth is!" Said Tori.

It was then that Cloud stood up in from the table.

"How do you know? Where is he?" Asked Cloud.

"I saw it in my dream. He's in the ruins of Midgar. I think this may be our chance to actually finish him once and for all."

"Tifa. Call everyone and have them come here. And tell Cid to get his airship."

"You got it, Cloud."

"Now all we have to do is wait." Said Cloud, sitting in his chair with his arms crossed.

Marlene and Denzel were about to say something, but Cloud beat them to it.

"You two need to stay here."

"Aww..." The two kids said at once.

An hour later Barret, Cid, Vincent, Yuffie, and Cait Sith was sitting on top of Red XIII.

Yuffie was staring at Tori. It was then that Vincent hit Yuffie on her head.

"Hey! Why did you hit me?" The ninja asked.

"No staring." Vincent said while glaring at Yuffie.

Yuffie then started to pout with her arms crossed.

It was then that Cloud and Tifa arrived at the table and took their seats.

"As you guys know, you're here for something important."

"Is it a party?!" Yelled Yuffie.

This resulted in Vincent having to hit Yuffie in the head again. She looked up and was about to say something to him, but he had the look that said 'Be-quiet-or-I'll-tape-your-mouth-shut' on his face.

It was then that Tori couldn't take it anymore.

"Can we stop beating around the bush and get straight to what we intended to say?" Said Tori.

Everyone looked at her with surprise. True she never had this kind of behavior, but she just wanted to get to the point.

"I'll just say it! I know where Sephiroth is. He's at the ruins of Midgar."

"And how do you know this?" Said Barret.

"I saw it when I was sleeping. It was real to the point that if I touched anything I would have felt it. I think this may be our chance to finally take care of him."

"Now she's fucking talking." Said Cid.

"I like her already!" Said Yuffie.

Again Vincent had to hit the ninja on the head.

"What are we waiting for? Let go!"

Tifa then looked to Cloud.

"Well, do you want to say it?" She asked.

Everyone in the room fell silent, waiting for Cloud to speak.

"Let's mosey." Said Cloud.

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Everyone was now on the Shera with Cid piloting. Tori was standing near the window watching the view from down below as they took off.

"_Wow! This is 10 times better than riding in an airplane! And it actually goes faster than one too._" Thought Tori.

"Hi!"

Tori jumped when she heard the voice and turned around to find that it was Yuffie.

"I don't believe we were properly introduced. I'm the White Rose of Wutai. The great ninja Yuffie! What's your name?"

"I'm Harry Potter." She said.

"What?!"

"I'm just kidding! My name's Tori."

It was then that Yuffie started to circle around Tori as if inspecting her.

"You know, you look a lot like Aerith."

"That's because I'm her reincarnation." Said Tori.

"Hey guys! Aeri--" Tori had to cover Yuffie's mouth.

"Yuffie. They already know. There's no need to tell them."

Tori then released the ninja's mouth.

"Sorry about that."

"It's okay. I just don't like having a lot of attention."

"You look like you've never been on an airship before."

"Well, where I come from we don't have airships. We have airplanes instead. Airships happen to be 10 times better than airplanes."

"Yo! Coming in for a landing!" Yelled Cid.

Tori looked out the window and saw Sephiroth standing there like he did in her dream.

"_Just you wait, Sephiroth. We'll end this._" Thought Tori.

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Everyone was outside the airship and coming over to Sephiroth.

"So, you decided to come." Said Sephiroth.

"Yeah, yeah. Stop acting like a drama queen and skip the introductions, you stalker." Said Tori.

Everyone looked at Tori with confused looks.

"Um...don't ask." She said.

"I hope you're ready to die."

"I could say the same for you."

The clash then started with Sephiroth making the first move. Everyone dodged this assault and attacked Sephiroth. Tori, Cloud, Tifa, and Cid were attacking Sephiroth while Barret, Vincent, Yuffie, and Cait Sith and Red XIII attack from a ways away. Soon enough, Sephiroth was weakening but he was still powerful.

As Cloud and Tori were about to attack him, the One-Winged Angel used an attack that sent Cloud and Tori to the ground, with Cloud farther away from her. When Cloud got up he ran towards Tori, only to get blocked by what seem to be a barrier.

"_What? A barrier?_" Thought Cloud. "_Tori won't be able to take Sephiroth on her own!_"

Tori got up to her feet and looked at Sephiroth.

"Now it's just you and me." Said Sephiroth. "You're friends can't help you now."

Tori's eyes widened. She was going to have to fight Sephiroth alone.

"_No time the hesitate. This is a real life or death fight that I'm now in._" Thought Tori.

Sephiroth charged at Tori, but she blocked it just in time. She was now struggling to push his sword away from her with all her might. She remembered when she struggled to push Cloud's sword away from her in training but she wasn't able to. But this was real battle and she couldn't afford to lose now. Eventually, Tori managed to force Sephiroth's sword back at him and that gave her some time to put in a few blows before he was back in action.

I looked like Tori would win, but then she felt something plung itself into her right shoulder and hissed in pain. She looked down at her shoulder and saw that Sephiroth's sword was stabbed into it and looked up at him with pain written on her face.

"Tell me what you cherish most." Said Sephiroth. Tori stared at him with anger. "Give me the pleasure of taking it away."

That was it! That was enough to ignite Tori's anger. Image's of all the time she spent with everyone flooded her mind and she found a new strength inside her that she didn't know she had. Tori pulled out the Masamune from her shoulder and slashed at Sephiroth, only for him to dodge.

"You should have never asked that question." She then ran over to Sephiroth and rapidly slashed at him, not giving him time to attack. "There's not a thing I don't cherish!"

She continued to slash. "This is for killing me in my past life!" A slash. "This is for all the time you hurt my friends." Another slash. "And this is for you and your screw up mind and for a one-way ticket to hell!"

Tori kept going at this until Sephiroth was completely dead. She was now covered in blood. It was over, it was finally over.

The barrier disappeared and Cloud along with everyone else came running over to her. He held her in his arms.

"You did it. You defeated Sephiroth." Cloud whispered to her. "I thought you were going to die again."

"I know. I thought so too." Said Tori.

Tori then saw her arm and that it was starting to become transparant. She started to panic.

"What's happening to me?" She asked.

"You're leaving!" Said Cloud.

Tori looked at Cloud with sadness in her eyes.

"No! I don't want to leave! I want to stay here with you!" She tried to wrap her arms around Cloud's waist, but her arms went through him.

Tori started to cry. Cloud's head was hanging.

"I don't want you to leave either, but there's nothing I can do to stop it." He looked up at Tori and she saw tears falling from his face, the first time she had ever saw him cry.

Tori held out her hand to Cloud and he place his hand on hers. Because she wasn't solid anymore, his hand went through hers.

"Tori. Remember what I told you. Even though we might be pulled away from each other, we will always meet again. Never forget that."

Tori nodded.

"I won't. I promise." Said Tori.

Cloud then removed his hand from hers and she started to disappear.

"Goodbye...Tori."

"Goodbye..."

It was with that that Tori left.

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When Tori appeared again, she was outside her house with her sword in her right hand.

"I'm home." Tori whispered.

Tori walke up to her front door and rung the doorbell. Soon the door opened and It was Jackie who answered. When she saw her sister, she let out a cry.

"Tori! You're back." Said Jackie.

"I know..." Said Tori sadly.

Tori then went inside to find her family waiting for her in the kitchen.

"Where were you this whole time? You were gone for a month." Said her dad.

"And why are you covered in blood?" asked her mom.

Tori explained to her family what had happen to her and that she had just fought Sephiroth with the sword she had in her hands and told of the white materia. They didn't believe her so she had to take the white materia that was in her pocket out to show them. It glow in her hand as it was shown to everyone standing in front of her. It was then that they believed her.

Afterwards, Tori went to her room and closed the door. She cleaned her sword of the blood that was on it and changed into different clothes. When she was done, Tori placed her sword on her shelf and took out the white materia again.

"Well, two months left of summer vacation." Tori said. "Cloud... I know you can't hear me right now, but I'll wait for you. I'll wait for the day when we'll meet again. I'll wait for however long you want me to. I promise that I'll be in your arms again. But until then, I'll be waiting for you."

_**Fin**_

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ATE: There's your ending. But don't worry, It'll continue in the Sequal and it will be called 'What I Longed For'. Please Review. 


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